Islanders fed up with project after dredging delays, missteps

Grand Mananers are fed up with a pile of dredged debris sitting on the shoreline in North Head and are demanding answers as to who will clean it up -- and when -- as the project has stalled and the completion deadline has passed.
The plan by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) for Fisheries and Oceans' Small Craft Harbours includes dredging of the west basin, construction of a concrete marginal wharf and boat ramp and work on both North Head and Woodwards Cove breakwaters. The $15.8 million contract was awarded to Greenfield Construction Ltd. of Miramichi in April 2021, with a completion date of January 31, 2023, although the contractor hoped to finish by October 2022.
The project's start was delayed, and now work has stopped. Equipment was removed from the site this spring, leaving a mountain of rock debris near the fishermen's wharf, and a figurative mountain of questions and rumours, especially among nearby property owners who have had questions from the start.
When work began, biweekly video meetings were held by PSPC representatives for property owners, who expressed concern about damage to their wells and buildings from blasting, and about effects on the adjacent tourism dependent businesses. Many didn't think they were getting enough answers, and some still don't.
Walter Colby owns Post Office Pizza, directly across the road. His water has been clean so far "or I wouldn't be open," but he says his kitchen has been full of dust. He says the project has hurt his business, not only through the decline in pizza customers but the postponement of his plan to rent the other side of his building as an Airbnb, since the view is now blocked by the rubble pile. Tourists asking what is going on "are a daily trauma."
Some of his inquiries have gone unanswered by PSPC representatives, including fear of damage to his federally recognized heritage building. He says, "As my neighbour, I wish the government was more transparent and provided more participation for the community to have input, to be able to raise concerns and have an active dialogue regarding those concerns." An American who is frustrated at having to research Canadian environmental laws, he thinks that "Canada doesn't have the same kinds of protections Americans have" with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Contamination an issue
Approximately 25,850 cubic metres of "Class A" and 7,000 cubic metres of "Class B" materials were to be excavated. The latter was contaminated. A test report from seven boreholes in the harbour sediment prior to excavation has 37 lines showing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons -- petroleum and combustion byproducts -- exceeding various guideline amounts except in three holes. Eighteen more lines show metals including arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury exceeding guidelines in about half the holes. The report also lists DDT derivatives in three samples and petroleum hydrocarbons in six more.
Some of the "clean" Class A rock was to be used in the Woodwards Cove breakwater project, which has also stalled. The village agreed to accept some of it at the construction/demolition (C&D) site. In a PSPC meeting document from May 2021, it was stated that the contractor would build a covered "containment cell" for the contaminated material to dry before being transported to a mainland hazardous waste facility.
Colby says he was told the containment cell would follow U.S. Army Corps of Engineers standard; those guidelines detail confinement and dewatering structures. He says the dredged material was placed on a thick plastic boat wrap tarp with a rock perimeter, but he and his wife never saw a cover. He has photos of puddles around the pile and worries that contaminated material could have been mixed with the clean material.
A site diagram in the early documentation shows the containment cell situated directly across from Colby's building. At a January 2022 village council meeting, Kevin Sampson, owner of Adventure High Kayaking and the Compass Rose Inn, both on the adjacent shoreline, stated that he had observed dredged material being deposited in a new pile outside the containment cell and directly beside his property. Colby has heard Sampson's well and a replacement well were contaminated.
Sampson declined comment per his lawyer's advice, as he has a lawsuit against PSPC filed last September and a motion with the Court of King's Bench scheduled to be heard in October. The latter asks for the rest of the ongoing documentation that has stopped being provided; the release of all water test results to homeowners; and the release of all reports and documentation about the piles of material on site. Sampson's lawyer did not return a call for comment about the lawsuit.

Officials address concerns
Mayor Bonnie Morse says the village's role is limited, because it is a federal project, and they are only involved in the disposal of material at the C&D site. She says the Department of the Environment has tested and approved the Class A rock, and it is their responsibility to ensure it isn't contaminated by Class B dredge. She says communication with the contractor is ongoing, but she does not have information about the test reports or contract details.
At their August meeting, the village council approved a Freedom of Information request for copies of project documentation, proposed by Councillor Philman Green. "It's not merited" for people to say the village is holding up the project, Green says. With so many rumours and versions of the project details, he wants a complete thread of communication. His concerns include assurance that there aren't toxic "hot spots" in the Class A rock and the logistics of off island transport of the Class B. He doubts the ferry system can handle the volume, and he thinks Greenfield should have used a barge. The contaminated material "should never have touched ground."
Member of Parliament John Williamson says, "What's happened under the oversight of the federal departments of Fisheries & Oceans and Public Works is appalling and must be corrected forthwith. It is past time to act. I will raise this in Parliament directly with the responsible Liberal ministers for answers and action when MPs sit again later this month." He calls the public consultation before work started "abysmal. As for the debris [at] North Head, the government isn't responding to me or the media, so I'll raise it in the House of Commons and press ministers and the prime minister to clean it up." He adds that if the contractor is not prepared to resume work immediately, the government should seize the bond and require them to do so. He will present a petition with 300 signatures from the Old Well House Café that requests the piles be removed as promised and notes the "immense negative impact on our small business and general public morale."
Williamson says 35,000 tonnes have been excavated, representing 60 70% of the total, and he suspects work stopped because the contractor ran out of room to pile it. He agrees that PSPC should be queried about management of the toxic material. He says the issue "is not getting the attention it deserves; it will get attention from my office" through Parliament and the media.
He also points out that while various parties are pressing for immediate action, it's still a long term project, with 15 20,000 tonnes left to excavate and remove, and then the wharf construction.
In a Facebook post, he noted that Acton Greenfield bid $13.8 million for the work, Debly bid $18.6 million, Fundy Contractors $20.8 million, Dexter $25.9 million and Pomerleau $27.2 million. He wrote: "I suspect the other bids included the work to remove the dredged and blasted debris from Grand Manan Island to a proper facility in Saint John or Fredericton, as the tender required. Did nobody at Public Works and DFO ask how a family with a history of fleecing taxpayers could get this job done on budget and on time after underbidding the local competitors by $5 million?"
On September 14 CHCO TV posted comments from PSPC spokesperson Helena Sergakis confirming Greenfield's responsibility to remove the excavated material. She said baseline and ongoing sampling would "ensure it is acceptable for its end use or destination. The results remain aligned with the proposed plan for the stockpiled material." She said the blasting is probably completed, but she said that this "will be re confirmed when the dredging work is completed later this fall," and that "the contractor is expected to begin moving the material next week." They now expect a completion date of May 2024, although the comments did not specify whether this refers to the excavation or the construction to follow.

Greenfield’s history controversial
Concerns were raised about Greenfield's suitability as a contractor when the company was selected, because of its familial connection to the Atcon group, which received over $63 million in loan guarantees from the provincial government prior to going bankrupt in 2010 amid allegations of poor management. Owner Robbie Tozer's daughter was listed as a director of Greenfield when it was incorporated the same month. CBC reports that an Alberta subcontractor claims it hasn't been paid by Greenfield in over a year. Previous Greenfield/Atcon controversies reported by media include a lawsuit by an Atcon consortium over a bid to build a New Brunswick wind farm, and one by a Port La Tour, Nova Scotia, couple alleging negligence and mishandling of contaminated sludge in a wharf construction project there.
No one at Greenfield answered the phone, and the call was not returned.
Mayor Morse says, "The project is needed in North Head" because of crowding at the wharf, "but it has gone on too long. There needs to be a resolution one way or another."