Halifax Regional Municipality to remove peat near dying stream

A pile of peat that may have been killing a stream in Dartmouth will be removed, the Halifax Regional Municipality says.

The municipality ordered crews to begin Friday totake the peat pile away to a private landfill.

The move came after Bob Rutherford, an independentenvironmental consultant, recently tracked problems at Grassy Brook and Lake Micmac, which it feeds into, to piles of debris at a municipally owned site at Burnside Industrial Park.

Rutherford, who has been working on the Dartmouth Crossing development project, said those piles were leaching into the stream, lowering oxygen levels to the point where fish could not survive.

The downstream impact on Lake Micmac is also noticeable, with one end filling up with reeds, cattails and green algae.

Municipal officials said one source of the problem could be the grubbings pile, where peat and soils removed from a new soccer field are dumped.

In response, the municipality had a silt fence at the disposal site on Dorey Avenue repaired, and ordered the crews to begin taking the peat pileto the landfill.

Councillor wants policy for area

Coun. Andrew Younger, who represents East Dartmouth - the Lakes, is pleased the peatis beingremoved, but he calls it only a first step.

"It just points to the fact that just because you don't live on the edge of the lake, you aren't affecting the lake with your development practices," he told CBC News.

"What I need to see in the future ... is a policy regarding waterways and bogs in any area, not just Burnside."

Younger said he'll bring up his concerns with regional council.

Municipal officials said they're working with the provincial Environment Department and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans to come up with a plan to restore Grassy Brook.