CPAWS New Brunswick Submits Comments to Federal Impact Assessment Agency about Centre Village Natural Gas Plant

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – New Brunswick Chapter (CPAWS NB) has submitted comments to the Federal Impact Assessment Agency opposing the proposed Centre Village natural gas plant in Tantramar, due to its location in a critical wildlife corridor.

“The Chignecto Isthmus is one of the most important ecological corridors in Atlantic Canada,” said Melanie Jellett, Conservation Manager with CPAWS NB. “Placing a fossil-fuel power plant in the middle of this migratory route risks further fragmenting important wildlife habitat, harming wetlands, and threatening the species at risk that rely on this landscape.” 

CPAWS-NB’s submission highlights risks to migratory birds along the Atlantic Flyway, nearby wetlands and waterways connected to the Tantramar River watershed, and species of conservation concern including the Common Nighthawk, Rusty Blackbird, and Olive-sided Flycatcher. 

The organization is urging the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada to reject the proposal as currently planned and to apply a precautionary approach to development in this globally significant ecological corridor.

“At a time when Canada must reduce emissions and halt biodiversity loss, building new fossil-fuel infrastructure in such a sensitive ecological area moves us in the wrong direction,” Jellett said.