Full federal assessment, including impacts on bird Species At Risk

I am writing as an ornithologist who has been conducting research on birds in upland forest and forested wetlands along the Eastern Shore for several years. In my expert opinion, the 15-Mile Processing Hub Project is likely to result in “non-negligible” impacts to migratory bird species, including many federally-listed Species At Risk. Therefore, I urge you to require a full, federal impact assessment of the proposed project.

The bird species that would be impacted include Species At Risk and other species of conservation concern. These species breed in habitat distributed across the area encompassed by the three proposed mine sites. The SAR birds include Barn Swallow, Canada Warbler, Chimney Swift, Common Nighthawk, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Evening Grosbeak, Olive-sided Flycatcher and Rusty Blackbird. Additional, declining species of conservation concern include Canada Jay, Boreal Chickadee and Pine Grosbeak.

The proposed mine sites are surrounded by wetlands and streams. The maps provided in the Initial Project Description and Plain Language Summary show only mapped wetlands. Most forested wetlands are not included in the “mapped wetlands” category as they are not obvious in aerial photographs or satellite images, but they can be modelled. Forested wetland habitats are ecologically important and are known to support higher biodiversity and more Species At Risk than forest habitats in Nova Scotia.