Proposal before environment department sparks expert’s concern
SPRINGHILL — Coal is becoming the talk of the town again in the Springhill area.The Springhill Coal Mines Ltd., a subsidiary of Nova Construction, has applied to the provincial Department of Natural Resources to excavate three test pits with the goal of examining the coal seams for a potential open-pit mining operation.
“I don’t have a real problem with Nova Construction coming in to do some surface mining, providing that all environmental conditions are met,” Springhill Mayor Maxwell Snow said last week.
But at least one Springhill resident does have a real problem with it. “If the equipment does come into town to take out the coal pillars of Springhill, they will have to go over my body to do it,” said Ralph Ross, the 64-year-old owner of Ross Refrigeration in town, and an authority on the geothermal operations and capabilities that exist there because of the abandoned underground mine tunnels.
This week, Natural Resources Minister Zach Churchill signed a special lease to give the town final provincial approval to open Nova Scotia’s first municipal geothermal program.