MONCTON, NB – September 3, 2015 – Petitcodiac Riverkeeper welcomes the commitment demonstrated by the Government of New Brunswick in going forward with the Petitcodiac River project.

Recently, New Brunswick Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Roger Melanson called upon national party leaders to commit to helping the provincial government build a bridge to replace the causeway linking the cities of Moncton and Riverview, as part of their platforms. The provincial government is seeking $52.8 million from the federal government for this bridge, half of the total project cost. The bridge will be 240 meters long.

“Minister Melanson’s request is very encouraging. The provincial government seems ready to commit to this project, which will enable our river to regain its natural state, such as it was, several decades ago,” says Petitcodiac Riverkeeper President Paul N. Belliveau. “With collaboration between governments and partners, and a strong belief in this project, will be able to achieve our goal: having a healthy river once again.”

Since the opening of causeway gates in 2010, the Petitcodiac River has gotten healthier. The tidal bore is bigger and stronger, and there are many signs the river’s ecosystem is improving, such as an increase in populations of several species of native fish recently documented in a report by the Petitcodiac Fish Recovery Coalition. Although they are proud to have won this first battle, Riverkeepers have always advocated that the best option for the Petitcodiac River is to replace the causeway with a bridge and never stopped promoting such a project. “We will continue to work hard until our dream comes true,” says Belliveau. “The support of the provincial government, which Mr. Melanson has publicly made known, takes us one step closer to this goal. I applaud this willingness demonstrated by the provincial government, and I echo the challenge Mr. Melanson has issued to the four national political parties during this election period. I want to see their leaders promise to support the Petitcodiac River project.”

Petitcodiac Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization. Its main objective is to restore the ecological health of the Petitcodiac and Memramcook River watersheds, including the Shepody Bay estuary, located in southeastern New Brunswick. The Petitcodiac Riverkeeper is part investigator, scientist, educator, and advocate.  The Petitcodiac Riverkeeper acts as a public voice for our waterways, protecting our right to clean water and a healthy watershed.

-30 –

Media Contact:
Paul N. Belliveau
President – Petitcodiac RiverkeeperEmail: paul.n.belliveau@hotmail.comPhone: 506-855-2637Cell: 506- 866-2637

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK – MONDAY JUNE 15, 2015 – With spring well underway, many sea-run fish species are entering the Petitcodiac River for spawning or rearing purposes.ThePetitcodiac Fish Recovery Coalition has set up its live fish trap and is ready to collect another season of data in order to monitor how well different fish species are faring. The coalition says it is pleased with the data its trapping efforts have generated for the past 5 years since the opening of the causeway gates in 2010. The data indicate that the health of the river’s ecosystem is improving.

“Many fish populations continue to be headed in desired directions following the opening of the causeway gates,” explains Edmund Redfield, who oversees the coalition’s fish trap operations and research. “Many native species populations that we hoped would increase are indeed doing so, some far more than expected, while the numbers of non-native invasive species are declining.”

Click here to read the news release.

MONCTON, NB – May 7, 2015 – Petitcodiac Riverkeeper says it is worried about the Greater Moncton Wastewater Commission’s (now known as TransAqua) plan to seek a P3 (public-private partnership) as a funding model. The P3 project means to invest in a facilities upgrade to secondary treatment in order to meet new federal regulations that will come into effect in 2020.

According to Petitcodiac Riverkeeper’s Chair, Paul N. Belliveau, one must be careful with the P3 concept when it comes to funding and managing public services. “I believe that a public utility, such as a wastewater treatment plant, should remain within the public sector. There are several examples of similar projects for managing and treating wastewater that have not worked well and have had a negative impact on the environment.”

The Riverkeepers say they are worried that pursuing profit could now become the main focus for TransAqua if it is managed as a private company. This could lead to decisions that would compromise the quality of its services and operations. “We believe that the P3 concept simply poses unacceptable risks,” says Mr. Belliveau.

If the P3 project is accepted, users might be forced to see and accept an increase in rates without knowing the reasons behind this increase or having the right to demand access to information. “Wherever there are P3 projects in place to manage the collection and treatment of wastewater, we see this phenomenon, less operational control and lack of access to information by the public,” says Mr. Belliveau. “We know that TransAqua has a financial reserve in place that is quite attractive to private companies who do wastewater treatment. Having this reserve go to the hands of the private sector is very risky. We could lose control of a very vital public service.”

Having seen the dangers of P3 projects elsewhere which manage the collection and treatment of wastewater and given the risks (loss of control and the right of access to information by citizens, eventual compromises on quality of operations and services when profit becomes the number one priority and potential negative environmental impacts), Petitcodiac Riverkeeper believes TransAqua’s management should be fully in the hands of the public sector instead of a public-private partnership.

Petitcodiac Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization. Its main objective is to restore the ecological health of the Petitcodiac and Memramcook River watersheds, including the Shepody Bay estuary, located in southeastern New Brunswick. The Petitcodiac Riverkeeper is part investigator, scientist, educator, and advocate.  The Petitcodiac Riverkeeper acts as a public voice for our waterways, protecting our right to clean water and a healthy watershed.

NEWS RELEASE

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK – March 19^th, 2015 – Petitcodiac Riverkeeper held its Annual General Meeting last night at the Chateau Moncton Hotel. The organisation, now in it’s 16^th year, proudly presented new strategic priorities that will guide its members and volunteers.

While our region’s beloved “Chocolate River” is doing much better since the opening of the causeway gates in 2010, the organization warns that work is not yet over in order to completely restore the Petitcodiac River. Riding the wave of community support and public interest that was sparked with the recent surfing phenomena, a renewed mission and vision as well as new strategic goals had to be put in place to ensure Riverkeepers achieve new projects that not only benefit the Petitcodiac, Memramcook and Shepody rivers, but also tap into public support to foster more active community engagement. For the past six months, the organization’s Board of Directors has thus concentrated on elaborating the organization’s new strategic plan, which will guide activities and priority projects during the next three years.

“We met with members and key partners in the community in order to understand what is the role we now need to play and how we can better work together,” explains Petitcodiac RIverkeeper President Paul. N. Belliveau. “Like so many other non profit organizations, funding remains one of our biggest challenges, but I am confident that our work will lead us to some impressive results in the coming year.

Priority projects for the organization include replacing the Petitcodiac River causeway with a partial bridge, completing the Memramcook River causeway project, removing the Mills Creek Dam in Riverview (project of similar nature to the work that was recently completed with the Humphreys Brook Restoration project), and working with the City of Moncton, the City of Dieppe and the Town of Riverview to look into the development and launch of an Interpretation Centre on the Petitcodiac Riverfront Trail. The organization is also closely monitoring developments at TransAqua – the Greater Moncton Wastewater Commission – in order to ensure the Commission respects environmental priorities outlined in its strategic plan.

Board of Directors members were also elected for the coming year during the March 18^th Annual General Meeting.

Paul N. Belliveau – Chair
Georges Brun – Vice-Chair
Monique Arseneault – Secretary-Treasurer
Roger Dubois – Director
Jean-Marc Dugas – Director
Alfred Ehrenclou  – Director
Bryant Freeman  – Director
Conrad LeBlanc – Director
Edmund Redfield – Director
Sarah Short – Director
Jimmy Therrien – Director

There is a team of volunteers which has responded YES to this question!

Our Mission
Petitcodiac Riverkeeper welcomes Anglophones and Francophones who want to work together to ensure the restoration, protection and development of the Petitcodiac River and Shepody Bay Estuary watersheds.

Territory
We are looking to recruit volunteers residing in the following regions:

• Riverview
• Salisbury-Petitcodiac
• Fort Folly
• Hillsborough-Hopewell

Strategic Plan
Petitcodiac Riverkeeper will be launching its strategic plan during an Annual General Meeting at the Château Moncton (Port Royal conference room) on March 18, 2015, starting at 7pm.

Volunteers on our new Board of Directors will thus be able to refer to this strategic plan to channel their energies towards our organization’s priority goals.

Interested?
If you would like to join our team, please do not hesitate to send you name, phone number and email address to Conrad LeBlanc (506-758-8118 or cojo2012@gmail.com).

News Release
For Immediate Distribution

MONCTON, NB – November 28, 2014 – Petitcodiac Riverkeeper wishes to congratulate the Town of Amherst, Nova Scotia for this past week’s well-informed decision by town councillors not to allow the disposal of treated wastewater from Atlantic Industrial Services’ (AIS) facilities located in Debert, Nova Scotia, in its municipal sewers. Petitcodiac Riverkeeper says this decision clearly demonstrates the municipal councillors’ awareness of environmental hazards in the proposed plan. The organizations believes disposing the treated wastewater in the sewage system would likely cause many problems in the region’s watersheds, affecting the LaPlanche, Memramcook and Petitcodiac rivers, and even the Bay of Fundy.

Petitcodiac Riverkeeper acknowledges the courage shown by the Town of Amherst to rule against AIS’ project. The organization wishes to thank the town councillors for putting water quality, and thus the health of the environment and of its citizens, first. The Riverkeepers hope this decision will inspire Dieppe’s city councillors, which have also been approached by AIS for the disposal of its wastewater. Neither decision nor final answer has yet been communicated to AIS by the City of Dieppe, which is currently waiting for the results from the province of NB’s environmental impact assessment.

Petitcodiac Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization. It’s main objective is to restore the ecological health of the Petitcodiac and Memramcook River watersheds, including the Shepody Bay estuary, located in southeastern New Brunswick. The Petitcodiac Riverkeeper is part investigator, scientist, educator and advocate.  The Petitcodiac Riverkeeper acts as a public voice for our waterways, protecting our right to clean water and a healthy watershed.

News Release
For immediate distribution

MONCTON, NB – October 27, 2014 – Petitcodiac Riverkeeper is concerned by the demand made ​​by Atlantic Industrial Services (AIS) to dispose of 30 million litres of treated water in Dieppe’s municipal sewer system originating from its facility in Debert, Nova Scotia. Petitcodiac Riverkeeper is adamant that New Brunswick’s Department of Environment and Local Government should reject this proposal.
(See backgrounder issued by the City of Dieppe: Project to dispose of treated water in municipal sewer system.)

Petitcodiac Riverkeeper says it does not have sufficient information regarding the components of the treated water. The organization is concerned about the possibility that the water might harm local citizen’s health as well as the environment.

The lack of information from independent sources regarding the request made ​​by AIS is a major concern for Petitcodiac Riverkeeper. The organization demands that further information be provided and, until this happens, strongly opposes disposal of water in New Brunswick originating from outside sources.

Petitcodiac Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization. Its main objective is to restore the ecological health of the Petitcodiac and Memramcook River watersheds, including the Shepody Bay estuary, located in southeastern New Brunswick. The Petitcodiac Riverkeeper is part investigator, scientist, educator and advocate.  The Petitcodiac Riverkeeper acts as a public voice for our waterways, protecting our right to clean water and a healthy watershed.

Text: Mario Cyr
Photos: Edmund Redfield and Mario Cyr
Graphics: Edmund Redfield

Petitcodiac Riverkeeper continues to work on the second phase of the Humphreys Brook restoration project this fall (2014) by removing large debris, planting native trees and constructing biotechnical slope stabilization structures. (To learn more about our Humphreys Brook restoration project, please read this blog post: Our vision for Humphreys Brook –a healthy habitat for all fish animals, and people to enjoy in the urban center of Moncton.)

Photo 1: Removing large metal debris from the banks of Humphreys Brook with heavy equipment provided by Tri-Province Enterprises.

The site selected for restoration work in this third year of the project follows the brook for 200 meters. The site is located where the brook enters an affected industrial area further upstream from the old dam which was dismantled. (See section in red in Figure 1, below.)

Figure 1: Location of the restoration site along Humphreys Brook (Fall 2014).

Approximately 700 trees (native species) will be planted in an area that covers 7,000 square meters. (See Figure 2: Plantation map.)

Figure 2: Plantation map.

Once Phase II is completed, Tri-Province Enterprises will have contributed $25,000 towards cleaning and reforestation work for the Humphreys Brook restoration project.

Photo 2: Petitcodiac Riverkeeper President Paul N. Belliveau receives the fourth $5,000 cheque from Tri-Province Enterprise owners Mark Nowlan and Bruce Nowlan. A fifth cheque will be given to Petitcodiac Riverkeeper once all work is completed.

Petitcodiac Rivekeeper would like to thank the financial partners that have continue to support us in Phase II of our Humphreys Brook restoration project: Fisheries and Oceans Canada as well as Tri-Province Enterprises.

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK – October 1, 2014 – With the arrival of the fall and a recent participation in an international competition that has shone a spotlight on its successes as well as the potential to come for the Petitcodiac River’s restauration efforts, Petitcodiac Riverkeeper’s new Board of Directors (elected this past summer at the organization’s 15th AGM) is ready to tackle this coming year’s challenges.

Mr. Paul N. Belliveau will guide the organization as its new president. Mr. Belliveau has served on the organization’s Board of Directors since 2013. This is the first time that the organization sees a municipal councilor take the lead as president, which it sees as a valuable asset. Indeed, Mr. Belliveau, Ward Councillor for the City of Dieppe, is a known environmental steward. He acted as Chairman of the steering committee responsible for drafting the city’s green plan and has been chairing the city’s advisory committee on the environment for 2 ½ years.

“Throughout the past 15 years, I have observed the tremendous work done by Petitcodiac Riverkeeper,” explains Mr. Belliveau. “Petitcodiac Riverkeeper’s work and community involvement continues to receive local, national and international praise. Of course, the pivotal moment was the opening of the causeway gates in 2010 and the positive effects that we continue to see ever since in our river. But our work is far from over.”

Mr. Belliveau will lead the organization in its efforts to replace the causeway with a partial bridge in order help the Petitcodiac River to return to its pre-1968 glory. But he warns that this project will only be possible with cooperation from all levels of government and the local population.

In addition, the organization recently participated in an international conference where it was nominated for the prestigious International Riverprize, thanks to work led by Riverkeeper Daniel LeBlanc. “We recognize the work done by Mr. LeBlanc in regards to this nomination. The international attention we received as one of the three finalists is very positive. We must not lose this momentum. We have learned from other rivers and their communities’ stories, and we now have more ideas about the work and type of partnerships we need to go after for our own river.”

In addition to Mr. Belliveau, Petitcodiac Riverkeeper members elected Mr. George Brown as Vice-President and Mr. Jean-Marc Dugas as Secretary-Treasurer. The former president, Pierre Landry will continue his involvement with the organization as Past-President. Furthermore, Mr. Jimmy Therrien, Mme Melissa MacMullin, Mme Monique Arsenault, Mr. Alfred Ehrenclou, Mr. Conrad LeBlanc and Mr. Roger Dubois will serve as directors.

“I feel lucky and honoured to have been chosen as the President of Petitcodiac Riverkeeper’s Board of Directors,” says Mr. Belliveau. “Our diverse membership provides us with lots of different perspectives, and I am eager to begin our work. I thank the members of the Board, our staff and our volunteers for their support.”

Petitcodiac Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization. Its main objective is to restore the ecological health of the Petitcodiac and Memramcook River watersheds, including the Shepody Bay estuary, located in southeastern New Brunswick. The Petitcodiac Riverkeeper is part investigator, scientist, educator and advocate.  The Petitcodiac Riverkeeper acts as a public voice for our waterways, protecting our right to clean water and a healthy watershed.

On September 20, 2014, two sites were selected and 210 native trees and shrubs, in addition to three red maple trees in honour of the three RCMP officers who lost their lives last summer, were planted along the Petitcodiac waterfront trail in downtown Moncton. Petitcodiac Riverkeeper was involved in the organization of this activity, which promotes habitat restoration and biodiversity enhancement.

Launched in 2010, TD Tree Days provide TD Bank employees, family members, friends and the community the opportunity to volunteer and demonstrate their commitment to being environmental stewards.

Petitcodiac Riverkeeper’s new president, Mr. Paul N. Belliveau, and past president Mr. Pierre Landry, participated in this event. Mr. Mario Cyr took on the role of “TD Tree Advisor” on behalf of Petitcodiac Riverkeeper, with support from Mr. Dan Hicks and the City of Moncton’s Department of Parks and Recreation. Mr. Alain Curling from TD Bank was designated as “TD Site Leader” for this activity. Over forty volunteers, TD Bank employees and their families were in attendance.

One of the many tree shrubs planted by Mr. Pierre Landry.

Mr. Alain Bordage motivates a group of volunteers.

Mr. Paul N. Belliveau et Mr. Alain Bordage get ready to plant one of the three red maples to honour the RCMP officers who recently died while on duty.

Mr. Pierre Landry planted many trees and shrubs!