Send this page to someone via email Nova Scotia RCMP arrested three people and closed a rural road north of Halifax as they enforced a court injunction removing protesters from a blockade at the Alton Gas site near Fort Ellis, N.S. The women, described as “grassroots grandmothers,” were taken into custody without incident for “civil contempt of an injunction order,” RCMP said on Wednesday. The trio were not charged and were released from the RCMP detachment in Enfield around 3 p.m. The blockade at Fort Ellis was set up more than two years ago by Indigenous protesters and supporters opposed to a plan by Alton Gas to store natural gas in large, underground caverns about 12 kilometres away. The protesters, who say they’re defending the land and water, fear the nearby Shubenacadie River will be irrevocably polluted if the company moves ahead with its plan to create the caverns by using water from the river to flush out salt deposits and then dump the leftover brine into the river. Story continues below advertisement READ MORE: Opposition to Alton Gas get small designated zone for ‘peaceful protest’ The grandmothers who were arrested – Kukuwis Wowkis, Kiju Muin and Darlene Gilbert – said they occupied the site on their unceded territory to protect its resources for the next seven generations. They question the science submitted by Alton Gas and approved by legislators that claims there will not be significant, permanent damage to the ecosystem and its spawning fish. “We decided in wise council that we were going to go get arrested together under this so-called Canadian law, which we do not recognize, because our treaty law supersedes all Canadian laws as long as we’re following the seven sacred teachings,” Kukuwiswowkis told Global News outside the RCMP office in Enfield. “We’re standing there to protect even their own children’s human rights of living and healthy food,” added Kijum Muin, referring to RCMP present on the site, and the Alton Gas workers themselves. It was unclear what happened when police moved in on Wednesday morning. The RCMP set up roadblocks, preventing journalists and other grandmothers from reaching the site. Officers cited security concerns as their justification for the blockade, but declined to tell reporters what those concerns were. The women who were arrested later told Global News that they were treated respectfully by female officers. Story continues below advertisement View image in full screen RCMP vehicles form a blockade near the Alton Gas site on April 10, 2019. Elizabeth McSheffrey/Global News “The RCMP is absolutely impartial in this,” Clarke told reporters at the roadblock, about three kilometres from the work site. “We respect Indigenous culture and we also respect the company’s right to conduct their business.” While the roadblock has been disbanded, she said police will maintain an “increased presence in the area to monitor the situation.” Elder Dorene Bernard, an academic and member of the Sipekne’katik First Nation in nearby Indian Brook, N.S., referred to those arrested as “grassroots grandmothers.” “We have a long fight ahead of us,” she told reporters at the roadblock. “This is our treaty right. It should be our and other Nova Scotians’ right to stand up to protect their water.” “We’re going to always stand and protect the sacred,” added Mi’kmaw treaty scholar, Michelle Paul. “Mark by words Alton Gas, you’re not going to be successful, because the people of Nova Scotia, they know. They’re going to follow their hearts.” Story continues below advertisement She encouraged Nova Scotians to read up on the project and familiarize themselves with Alton’s plan. In an emailed statement, Alton Gas said it required an injunction in order to safely access its equipment and infrastructure on the site. The project does not yet have all the legal approvals required to begin construction. “At Alton, we respect the right to peaceful protest, but for safety reasons, the work site itself is open to Alton employees and approved contractors only,” wrote spokeswoman Lori Maclean. “We are committed to working with government, the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia and local communities on the next steps regarding development of the Alton Natural Gas Storage Project.” Down the road, where the company had set up a fenced-in area for protesters to make their views known, there were no demonstrators to be seen. However, about 10 red dresses were left hanging on the fence – symbols meant to draw attention to the plight of missing and murdered Indigenous women. WATCH: Global News coverage of the Alton Gas project Story continues below advertisement The injunction, issued on March 27 by Justice Gerald Moir of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, says that protester Dale Poulette, his partner Rachael Greenland-Smith and others must stop occupying a small homemade house on the site. They left the site shortly after the injunction was granted. The court order also laid out a small patch of fenced land where protesters will be required to remain as they continue to occupy the unceded Mi’kmaw territory. Opponents have dismissed the official “protest site” as a “playpen.” READ MORE: Nova Scotia court grants injunction against Mi’kmaq protester at Alton Gas site The court order says the RCMP may arrest any person who violates the order. It also says the protesters must conduct their protest peacefully, only during daylight hours and cannot set up “any inhabitation” at the site. As the Canadian Press reported earlier this month, the order prohibits people from interfering by force, threats or coercion with Alton Gas and utility workers seeking entrance to the site at 625 Riverside Rd. for the “purpose of investigating a recent power outage and assessing and repairing property damage arising therefrom and for all other operational and security purposes.” Protesters have gathered at the site for several years, arguing that the plan poses dangers to the traditional fisheries of the Mi’kmaq and risks harming the river used by Indigenous populations for thousands of years. Story continues below advertisement View image in full screen The Mi’kmaq camp at the construction site where Alton Gas Storage is planning to discharge brine into the waterways, is empty in Fort Ellis, N.S. on Wednesday, April 10, 2019. Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press Critics of the Alton Gas project say it poses dangers to traditional Mi’kmaq fishing grounds, which have been used for more than 13,000 years. Residents in the area saw an increase in police resources in the Stewiacke area throughout the day. “It’s important that there are officers available to respond as needed,” said Clarke. “For public and police safety, body-worn cameras will be used.” Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "For public and police safety, body-worn cameras will be used." —With files from Elizabeth McSheffrey and the Canadian Press<doc-sep>RCMP officers enforcing a court-ordered injunction arrested three protesters Wednesday at an encampment next to the site of a controversial natural gas project at Fort Ellis, N.S. Police said in a news release that three women were taken into custody for civil contempt of an injunction order after they refused to leave the camp. The Indigenous protesters set up the camp more than two years ago to oppose a plan by the subsidiary of a Calgary-based company to create large underground caverns to store natural gas. The company has said it plans to bring in heavy equipment to repair a pumping station near the river, which means the protest camp will likely be bulldozed. Police also closed down a rural road leading to the site, which is north of Halifax, for several hours. The road was reopened around 2:30 p.m. Pollution concerns The protesters are concerned the nearby Shubenacadie River will be polluted if the company moves ahead with its plan to flush out underground salt deposits and then dump the brine into the river. Alton has already received the environmental and industrial approvals it needs to proceed, including two environmental assessments and an independent third-party science review. Last month, the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia issued a temporary injunction against the demonstrators, saying they have to move to a fenced-in area away from the site's main gate. Protester Dorene Bernard arrived at the RCMP blockade and said she wished she could be up at the protest site to 'witness it.' (Carolyn Ray/CBC) RCMP said earlier Wednesday they would first attempt to talk with demonstrators to try and get them to peacefully leave the site before making any arrests. The roadblock was located at the corner of Riverside Road and the old Trunk 2 highway, just north of Stewiacke. It's not clear how many protesters were near the Alton Gas site because the RCMP roadblock prevented reporters from getting a clear view of the area. Officers stationed at the roadblock wouldn't say if there were any other people at the site besides the three women arrested. RCMP said even with the roadblock now gone, they will continue to have an increased presence in the area to monitor the situation. 'This is our treaty right' Mi'kmaw activist Dorene Bernard, who is a member of the nearby Sipekne'katik First Nation, tried to reach the protest site Wednesday afternoon but was stopped by the RCMP roadblock. "I don't believe we should be prevented from going there to witness what is happening up there and that we should be cut off three kilometres away ... from the treaty camp," she said. Premier Stephen McNeil says the Alton Gas situation is in the hands of police and the justice system. (CBC) "We know that we are right, this is our treaty right, this is our inherent right and it should be all Nova Scotians rights to stand and protect their water." Michelle Paul was also stopped by the RCMP. She said she would like to see more people join the protest. "They want to dump millions and millions of tonnes of salt into our Shubenacadie River. That river is connected to everything here. That means all the groundwater, aquifers, will be impacted. It's just insane. It's insanity," she said. Premier's response Premier Stephen McNeil said he's comfortable with how his government has handled the file. "We've gone through the process of continuing duty to consult, which we did," he said. "As you know, it was one of the few times not all of the Aboriginal communities were together, many of them supported the process we had gone through. "We followed the court process and now it's in the hands of the police and the justices." Along with the road closure, RCMP set up an exclusion zone in the area to keep people away from the site. The exclusion zone has now been removed. MORE STORIES<doc-sep>Send this page to someone via email Nova Scotia conducted sufficient consultations with the Sipekne’katik First Nation on a controversial project to store natural gas in underground caverns north of Halifax, the environment minister has ruled. Margaret Miller released her decision Monday as part of a review sparked by the first nation’s appeal of the province’s industrial approval for the Alton Gas project near Shubenacadie. Miller also determined the province’s terms and conditions are sufficient to protect the environment. READ MORE: Ellen Page throws her support behind Indigenous land protectors protesting Alton Gas “The record … reflects extended efforts by the province to understand, explain, and mitigate against the impacts the Alton Natural Gas Storage project … would have on fish, fish habitat and Aboriginal rights,” Miller said in a letter to the first nation’s lawyer, Raymond Larkin. Story continues below advertisement “I conclude that the level of consultation was appropriate to the circumstances and to the Aboriginal and treaty rights as asserted.” Alton Gas plans to pump water from the Shubenacadie River to an underground site 12 kilometres away, where it will be used to flush out salt deposits, and create up to 15 storage caverns. The company has been continuing to work on the project, and its status would only have been jeopardized had the minister ruled that there wasn’t sufficient consultation with the Mi’kmaq by the Alberta-based firm. Protesters have gathered at the site for several years, arguing that the plan poses dangers to the traditional fisheries of the Mi’kmaq and risks harming the 73-kilometre river used by Aboriginal populations for thousands of years. “For me, that river is also sacred,” Miller told reporters on Monday, noting she had grown up near it. However, she said there are safeguards in place to prevent excessive salinity in the river. Miller said the approval has been amended to require Alton Gas to meet all applicable provincial, federal and municipal laws, including any future amendments to them. WATCH: Occupation of Alton Gas site continues on World Water Day 2:08 Occupation of Alton Gas site continues on World Water Day Occupation of Alton Gas site continues on World Water Day – Mar 22, 2019 The company is also required to develop an improved communication plan for sharing information with Sipekne’katik First Nation on environmental issues that may require an amendment to the approval. Story continues below advertisement Miller’s ruling comes after a 2017 Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruling that quashed the minister’s original decision to dismiss the first nation’s appeal after she approved the project in 2016. Justice Suzanne Hood concluded the first nation was not supplied with the proper documents to mount a proper appeal, although she did not order a stay of the minister’s project approval. The first nation and the company have 30 days to appeal Miller’s latest decision. Neither the first nation nor its lawyer were immediately available for comment. Lenore Zann, the NDP’s environment critic, said she was disappointed by the decision. “The minister’s decision to uphold the industrial approval and say Sipekne’katik was sufficiently consulted is disappointing. There are very real concerns about the affect the Alton Gas project will have on the Shubenacadie River and the Minister continues to side with the company over the water protectors,” she said in a statement. The company has obtained an injunction limiting protesters to a designated area of about 22 metres by 38 metres. Those who don’t comply face arrest by the RCMP.<doc-sep>
The Nova Scotia government is standing by its decision to grant an industrial approval to the controversial Alton Gas project. "I concluded that the consultations with the Sipekne'katik on this industrial approval have been sufficient," Environment Minister Margaret Miller told reporters Monday afternoon. In 2016, the Sipekne'katik First Nation appealed the Nova Scotia government's industrial approval for the project, but the minister of environment dismissed it. A court subsequently set aside the dismissal and ordered the matter back to the minister for further action. At issue was whether there had been sufficient consultation with Indigenous people. In a decision released Monday, Miller stuck by her earlier approval but added two new conditions. They are the creation of a communications plan by the company to keep community members current on the project and a stipulation that the project must meet municipal, provincial and federal laws, both present and future. 'Greater accountability' "It's giving greater accountability, I believe," said Miller. "We know our federal counterparts are in talks right now, are consulting right now on some new regulations, so we know that those will also be part of that industrial approval." The plan by Alton Gas to use water from the Shubenacadie River to create huge underground caverns to store natural gas has been the subject of long-running protests. Some members of the Sipekne'katik First Nation in nearby Indian Brook, N.S., have argued the project will damage the 73-kilometre tidal river, which runs through the middle of mainland Nova Scotia. For the past 12 years, Alton Gas, a subsidiary of Calgary-based Alta Gas, has been planning to pump water from the river to flush out salt deposits, creating up to 15 caverns. The leftover brine solution would then be pumped back into the river over two or three years. Miller said she once shared the concerns being expressed by those lined up against the project. "These ladies [the Mi'kmaw grandmothers], and many members of the Sipekne'katik band, are very passionate about the river and they're afraid that something's going to happen to it," she said. "Before that original decision was made in 2016 I had some reservations as well. "It took me looking into all the science and evidence to be assured that it wouldn't have an impact. For me, that river is also sacred." Miller has attachment to the river Miller grew up less than a kilometre from the shores of the Shubenacadie River and feels a strong attachment to it. "The science and the available evidence spoke to me and I believe that there will be safeguards in place for the river," she said. The plan by Alton Gas to use water from the Shubenacadie River to create huge underground caverns to store natural gas has been the subject of long-running protests. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press) The project has been on hold since protests started in 2014, and a protest camp was set up near the river two years later. Miller acknowledged the process has been long and involved. "I had to be assured that we had all the information that I needed and that we had a clear direction." Alton Gas will take time to consider the developments. "We have just received the decision from the Minister with respect to the appeal by Sipekne'katik First Nation," said Lori MacLean, the senior advisor for Alton Gas. "We are in the process of reviewing the decision at this time. "Alton will continue to comply with all regulatory and legal requirements, including the new conditions in the Minister's decision."