page_title: Boat Harbour, Nova Scotia
hierarchical_section_title: Boat Harbour, Nova Scotia
caption_attribution_description: English: Aeration ponds, Boat Harbour effluent treatment ponds, Abercrombie Point, Nova Scotia (1990s)
context_page_description: Boat Harbour is a body of water on the Northumberland Strait in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. Originally a tidal estuary, construction of a pulp and paper waste effluent treatment facility in the 1960s led to the pollution of the harbour and the source of ongoing environmental concern. Treated water takes about 30 days to reach the Northumberland Strait. Since the treatment system began operation in 1967, Boat Harbour has become polluted with dioxins, furans, chloride, mercury and other toxic heavy metals. It is considered to be one of Nova Scotia's worst cases of environmental racism. In 2015, the Boat Harbour Act wrote into law that the pulp and paper mill cease effluent treatment no later than January 31, 2020; soon after this took effect, the mill closed indefinitely. The Boat Harbour Remediation Project aims to return Boat Harbour to its original state as a tidal estuary. Pilot scale testing has been completed and the project is undergoing a federal environmental assessment and cleanup is expected to begin in 2021.
  Boat Harbour is fed by several freshwater streams from spruce woodlands.
context_section_description: Boat Harbour is a body of water on the Northumberland Strait in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. Originally a tidal estuary, construction of a pulp and paper waste effluent treatment facility in the 1960s led to the pollution of the harbour and the source of ongoing environmental concern. Treated water takes about 30 days to reach the Northumberland Strait. Since the treatment system began operation in 1967, Boat Harbour has become polluted with dioxins, furans, chloride, mercury and other toxic heavy metals. It is considered to be one of Nova Scotia's worst cases of environmental racism. In 2015, the Boat Harbour Act wrote into law that the pulp and paper mill cease effluent treatment no later than January 31, 2020; soon after this took effect, the mill closed indefinitely. The Boat Harbour Remediation Project aims to return Boat Harbour to its original state as a tidal estuary. Pilot scale testing has been completed and the project is undergoing a federal environmental assessment and cleanup is expected to begin in 2021.
  Boat Harbour is fed by several freshwater streams from spruce woodlands. Known as A'se'k (IPA [ɑːseːk]) in the Mi'kmaq language, it was historically used by First Nations people for fishing, clam digging, hunting and recreation, as well as a harbour for boats used to fish in the Northumberland Strait. Pictou Landing First Nation have their main reserve, Fisher's Grant 24, adjacent to Boat Harbour, and two other unpopulated reserves nearby.
caption: Nova Scotia's Boat Harbour has been used to treat waste from a neighbouring pulp mill since 1967.
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