An organization representing farmers is opposing the potential for potash exploration in New Brunswick.
In October, the province issued a request for proposals for potash exploration in southeastern regions.
The RFP involves more than 26,000 hectares of mainly private land in the Salt Springs and Cassidy Lake areas, southeast of Norton.
Suzanne Fournier, executive director of the National Farmers Union in New Brunswick (NFU-NB), said they have several concerns.
“We’re really concerned about water and the water table and the aquifer and the impact that resource extraction has on those resources,” Fournier said in an interview on Monday.
According to NFU-NB, 60 homes in Penobsquis reported losing their water supply after mining activities began in that area.
Fournier pointed to an assessment done by the Royal District Planning Commission in 2012 which showed that groundwater from Grand Lake to the Bay of Fundy, which is included in the RFP, is vulnerable to contamination.
Farmers are already concerned about New Brunswick’s water tables and water management with the recent drought in 2020, she said.
One of the other concerns expressed by NFU-NB members is a loss of farmland should extraction eventually proceed.
As a result of suburban sprawl, Fournier said farmers are already forced to often clear land that is forested in order to have productive agricultural land.
“To look at losing productive land to mining or subsidence which is the displacement of land and buildings after the mining takes place, is something we are concerned about,” said Fournier.
According to NFU-NB, Penobsquis residents and farmers dealt with displacement of buildings and land, productive fields became too wet to farm, and they expressed concerns over the proper treatment of mining wastewater.
“Furthermore, properties devalued, sinkholes appeared and questions raised about human health concerns were never addressed,” said a release from NFU-NB on Monday.
Fournier said potential extraction will likely have “little benefit” to New Brunswickers, pointing to previous operations in the Penobsquis area.
“The potash that was mined in New Brunswick was not actually used by New Brunswick farmers. It was over 90 per cent shipped overseas,” she said.
In a news release last month, the province said exploration rights would only be issued if “satisfactory proposals” were received before the Dec. 20 deadline.
Natural Resources Minister Mike Holland described this as “a great opportunity for New Brunswick” as we are the only region along the eastern seaboard of North America that has mined potash resources.
“Potash has been an important contributor to the local and provincial economy in New Brunswick for more than 50 years,” Holland was quoted as saying in the release.
“Our current geopolitical climate has clearly shown how requirements for natural resources connect us and affect us globally.”
NFU-NB is calling on the Higgs government to explore alternatives to resource exploration and extraction.
“We recognize that New Brunswick has industry and needs jobs, but we do believe that there are other ways to have a self-sufficient, economically strong New Brunswick other than taking out all of our minerals and resources,” said Fournier.
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