Concerns about erosion along the West River at the McAmmas Bridge on the fringe area of Antigonish County have not worn away.
The issue resurfaced during the most recent monthly meeting (Sept. 18) of Municipality of the County of Antigonish council.
“Councillor [Bill] MacFarlane [District 10] has raised this issue a number of times,” Warden Owen McCarron told reporters after the session.
Most recently, the councillor for the area brought concerns forward during an April council meeting, calling for provincial officials to take – at least at a remedial level – immediate action.
“It’s an ongoing concern,” MacFarlane said, at the time, noting the problem stemmed from a “significant rain event” that took place in 1998.
He added erosion is ongoing near homes in the St. Andrew Street-Old South River Road area.
MacFarlane also noted “significant erosion” around the abutments of the aforementioned bridge, adding that span is a “major thoroughfare” to downtown, along with St. Martha’s Regional Hospital.
At that time, council decided to write letters to several provincial departments and ministers, along with Antigonish MLA Randy Delorey.
In a June 15 letter, Delorey reiterated information he shared with council during an earlier meeting (April 23) – that the province “does not have any programs or initiatives respecting erosion.”
“However, the Department of Environment would be the best point to engage should the municipality or other private property owners wish to investigate the regulatory process for permits to reinforce banks,” he wrote.
Delorey also reiterated “the general environmental recommendation” that vegetation, rather than rock walls, is the best approach for controlling erosion.
“Some municipal jurisdictions even go so far, as part of their municipal planning, to establish what are known as riparian buffer zones, which restrict cutting of existing vegetation along waterways to protect both the land from erosion and the aquatic habitat from sediment,” Delorey wrote.
He recommended council consult local provincial environment representatives for more information regarding options.
“The back property of one of the residents there has probably lost more than six, seven feet in the last number of years,” McCarron said in providing an example of the effects.
“Erosion is happening everywhere – not just on the coasts; there is a lot of river erosion happening.
“We are seeing it in other areas of the county as well, where it starts to impact critical infrastructure on roadways and such,” he added.
When municipal officials hear such concerns, McCarron noted, they make sure to bring them forward to provincial officials.
“We also have concerns [with] the way the water is actually coming in around the bridge abutment that transportation [and infrastructure renewal] may need to look at that as well,” he said.
As for that aspect, in his letter, Delorey referred council to Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTIR) area manager Basil Pitts.
“As you are asking a technical engineering question about public safety, I will defer to TIR’s technical expertise to respond to that inquiry,” he wrote.
McCarron was asked how the municipality is going to proceed.
“I think it is going to be a combination of both [environment and transportation departments],” he said, when asked who they will take their message to next.
“When we talked – had preliminary discussions – nobody seems to have any money to remediate but, at some point, I think they need to take a look [at] and plan a longer-term strategy around erosion control.”