Media Clipping — July 2000
Journal of the Sustainable Development Institute, Washington, DC

Halifax Greening Up

For decades, torrents of pollution have been flowing into the busy harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia. According to one recent estimate, some 187 million liters of raw sewage a day form part of this unsavory soup. But after all the years of neglect, the city and its region are now making what local researcher and environmentalist Ron Colman calls "some real effort to consider environmental issues more seriously."

Two examples help make the point. For one thing, the 23-member Halifax Regional Council recently voted by a resounding 17-6 in favor of banning most commonly used farm and garden chemicals. The move, said to be widely popular among Haligonians, is scheduled to phase in over a four-year period and be accompanied by a major municipal campaign to educate citizens about alternative ways to control weeds and nourish lawns. No US city has any such program.

This summer Colman's nonprofit research organization, GPI Atlantic, also made waves when it published a 63-page report stating that cleaning up the harbor would net 1.4 billion Canadian dollars in economic benefits for Halifax over a 60-year period. The organization, which unlike many others includes social and environmental considerations in its analyses of costs and benefits, said that the gains would come from increased tourism ands shellfish harvesting, higher property values, and lower costs for health care.

GPI's harbor sewage study, part of a larger report on overall water quality, is once of many factors encouraging the regional council to embark on a major Halifax Harbor Solutions cleanup project. Through neither Nova Scotia province nor Ottawa has committed funds, the council has already agreed to put up two thirds of the $315 million (Canadian) cost of the initiative and, says Colman, regards this cost as an investment.

Copyright © 2000, Journal of the Sustainable Development Institute, Washington, DC