GUYSBOROUGH: Two local municipalities are benefitting from $9 million investments into green infrastructure in the tune of upgrades to compost facilities and wastewater management systems.
Rodger Cuzner, Cape Breton-Canso MP and Guysborough-Eastern Shore-Tracadie MLA Lloyd Hines, along with Guysborough Warden Vernon Pitts, all highlighted how this investment is essential to ensuring these communities have access to modern, reliable services that will improve their quality of life, protect the environment, and position themselves for growth.
“Modern green infrastructure solutions are crucial to ensuring the well-being of our families, our communities, and our environment,” Cuzner said last Friday. “The projects in Guysborough and Mulgrave demonstrate our commitment to investing in projects that build livable, modern communities while protecting the environment and keeping Nova Scotians healthy for years to come.”
In the Municipality of the District of Guysborough, residents and businesses will benefit from two new organic material processing buildings, replacing the existing facility, and increasing the amount of organic materials being diverted from landfills to be processed for compost and soil.
“We are very pleased with today’s announcement. This investment will allow us to construct a new 10,000 tonne per year compost facility that will be fully compliant with new regulations,” Pitts explained. “It will enhance the services we provide to our 15 municipal partners in Cape Breton, Pictou, and Antigonish Counties, along with our commercial clients.”
Residents in Mulgrave will also benefit from a new wastewater treatment facility, which will increase the town’s ability to manage and treat wastewater and storm water, reducing overflows into nearby waterways.
A new waste water treatment plant is timely for Mulgrave given the current system is at the end of its life and will soon be out of compliance with regulations.
“We are grateful to our federal and provincial funding partners for helping Mulgrave build on our previous investments in our wastewater infrastructure to make this new, modern wastewater facility a reality that will benefit our community and the environment for years to come,” Mayor Ralph Hadley said. “Without the contributions from [our counterparts], the project would never be possible for the Town of Mulgrave.”
The Government of Canada is investing more than $3.6 million in these projects through the Rural and Northern Communities Infrastructure Stream (RNIS) of the “Investing in Canada” infrastructure plan. The Government of Nova Scotia is contributing over $3 million in total, and the municipalities are contributing over $2.4 million combined.
For the enhanced organic materials remediation facility in Guysborough the official breakdown is as follows; federal funding of $734,202; $611,858 in provincial funding and municipally there is a contribution of $499,596.
For Mulgrave’s new wastewater treatment facility they’re receiving $2,935,025 federally; provincially they’ll receive $2,445,610 and municipally $1,956,828.