Dear Messrs. Belliveau and Parker:
We support the concerns of Town of Yarmouth regarding the security of the town’s water supply, and the Mayor’s June 9 request for a meeting with you.
Lake George is the water supply for the Town of Yarmouth and part of the Municipality of the District of Yarmouth.
We would like to draw your attention to the Lake George Watershed Protected Water Area Regulations, made under Section 106 of the Environment Act, S.N.S. 1994-95, c. 1; N.S. Reg. 197/2006 (October 16, 2006). Clause 15 states “No person is permitted to extract peat, gravel, rock, minerals, aggregate materials, top soil or any non-renewable resources within the Protected Water Area.”
We are aware of the mining exploration licence granted to Greenlight Resources for field exploration on the “Brazil Lake Lithium and Rare Metal Property.” We wish to draw to your attention that the potential mine area overlaps the Lake George Watershed Protected Water Area.
In light of this, (a) licence notwithstanding, any extraction within the Protected Water Area would violate the regulation in question, (b) we feel that the Town should have been consulted before this licence was issued, and (c) considering the regulation and the importance of protecting a public water supply, we recommend that extraction of any sort should be expressly forbidden within the Lake George Watershed Protected Water Area.
There should be no risk to a public water supply from a private enterprise, and the only way to assure this, in this case, is to follow the above regulation, with regard to actual mining operations.
We trust that you will assure same.