Protecting vulnerable isthmus joining N.S. and N.B. will cost hundreds of millions: report
CBC
A newly completed study looking for ways to protect the vulnerable strip of land that connects mainland Nova Scotia to New Brunswick, and the rest of Canada, presents three options, all estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Extreme weather and rising sea levels caused by climate change threaten to flood the Chignecto Isthmus by the year 2100.
Such an event could cut off a critical rail line and a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway that allow for an estimated $35 billion in trade each year.
The isthmus is currently protected by dikes and aboiteaux first constructed by the Acadians hundreds of years ago. The new report on bolstering protection for the trade corridor, released Friday afternoon, says dikes are still the best solution.
The report recommends three options:
Cabinet ministers from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick told reporters Friday they are working with Ottawa to choose one of the three options, or a hybrid, and come to a cost-sharing agreement.
"What is required for this project is in the ballpark of what my whole capital budget is for a year," said New Brunswick Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Jill Green.
"It's a big lift for New Brunswick and it's a big lift for Nova Scotia, so we definitely need our federal partners."
Kim Masland, Nova Scotia's minister of public works, said a project of this size warrants a federal contribution, especially considering the possible consequences of water overtaking the isthmus.
"We understand the importance of this issue ... and we will put in the time and the work and continue to work together in collaboration with the federal government to make sure we move this project forward on an expedited basis," Masland said.
Ottawa paid for half the $700,000 study, which started in 2018, while Nova Scotia and New Brunswick split the other half evenly.
Officials told reporters at a technical briefing that each of the three options will require extensive co-ordination between all three levels of government, from the early stages of permits and environmental approvals all the way through construction.
Construction could take more than a decade, in all three cases.
Parts of Sackville, N.B., and Amherst, N.S., are in the path of potential flooding on the isthmus, and politicians and residents have been calling for help with protection for years.
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