Arlington Heights C&D: The Case of a toxic and dying wetland
St. Croix Cove is a community tucked away at the base of the North Mountain in Annapolis County on the shores of The Bay of Fundy. Their water comes from the top of the mountain that filters through an enormous wetland and makes its way to the community’s wells through brooks, streams and aquafers of clear, mountain water. That is until Arlington Heights C&D was allowed to establish a landfill at the top of North Mountain. Not just any landfill, but one that disposes of construction debris from HRM and auto demolition debris. In other words, a landfill where extremely toxic and hazardous waste is dumped and an entire, essential wetland has been (illegally) destroyed.
“Arlington Heights is in a place where it shouldn’t be, and dump managers have disposed of thousands of tonnes of toxic Hazardous Waste, illegally, while NSE enforcement sat on their hands. The lack of both compliance and enforcement has been compounding the issues for YEARS, allowing time for all that poison to make its way to the community’s springs, livestock installations, gardens, brooks, and eventually the Bay of Fundy, despite years of complaints, questions and documented infractions.” Annapolis Waterkeepers
Residents have taken things into their own hands and have begun the expensive task of sampling the water and soils around the ever-expanding dump. Samples have been taken on the surrounding private properties (with the owner’s permission) to measure the migration of toxins beyond the dump site.