Nova Scotia judge sides with Mi’kmaq band on gas-storage project appeal
HALIFAX — A Mi’kmaq band has won a victory in its battle against an energy company’s plan to store natural gas in underground caverns in central Nova Scotia.
In a written decision released Monday, a provincial Supreme Court judge quashed the province’s rejection of the Indian Brook band’s appeal of the plan, saying the band was denied procedural fairness.
Justice Suzanne Hood ruled the province wrongly refused the band’s request to review and respond to reports on the project by the Nova Scotia Office of Aboriginal Affairs and the Environment Department.
Indian Brook argues Alton Natural Gas Storage’s plan to flush out salt to create storage caverns near Stewiacke poses an environmental risk to the nearby Shubenacadie River.