Petitcodiac Riverkeeper: Causeway Gates Open

Moncton, April 14, 2010 — After a 40-year environmental battle, the gates of the Petitcodiac causeway were opened today, triggering the commencement of the biggest fish passage restoration project to ever take place in Canada.

Commissioned in 1968, the Petitcodiac causeway in Riverview resulted in the decimation of the anadromous fish species, interrupted navigation and nearly eliminated the once famous Petitcodiac tidal bore. In 2001, the structure was declared illegal by former Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Herb Dhaliwal, after legal proceedings were initiated by Petitcodiac Riverkeeper a year earlier to enforce the restoration of fish passage throughout the river system.

A 5-year, multi-million environmental impact assessment followed, culminating in a precedent-setting recommendation in 2007 to dismantle a 280 m section of the causeway and replace it with a partial bridge. The first phase of this restoration project, pegged at $20 million, began in 2009 with the reconstruction of Acadian dikes and aboiteaux along a 21-km long reservoir. The second phase of this project, the opening of the gates, begins today for a two-year period. This will be followed by a third and final phase, to dismantle a 280 m section of the causeway and replace it with a bridge, set to begin in 2011.

“With the commencement of Stage 2 of the Petitcodiac River Restoration Project, the Province of New Brunswick is meeting its legal obligations to comply with the Fisheries Act” stated Tim Van Hinte, Petitcodiac Riverkeeper. “The people in our community are also able to bear witness to a truly historic event with the liberation of this great river system. We should all take great pride.”

Mark Mattson, an Environmental Lawyer in Toronto, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and Canadian Board Member with the Waterkeeper Alliance was thrilled with the news of the opening of the causeway gates. Mattson has been following the progress on the Petitcodiac River for the past decade. He was also directly involved with other legal investigations initiated by Riverkeeper, including the investigation into leachate discharges at the former Moncton landfill in the summer of 2000, which culminated in the City of Moncton pleading guilty to this offence in September 2003. “Today is a great day for rivers and for environmental justice in Canada,” he declared. “The people of this river valley have every reason to celebrate this great victory”.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the renowned Environmental Lawyer from New York and the founding President of Waterkeeper Alliance, was ecstatic with the news that the largest river restoration project in Canada is finally going ahead as a result of the work of the local Riverkeeper. “Today, I just want to say that I am so proud of the work that has been done by this group. It sets a great example for rivers in Canada and around the world. I want to commend the Province of New Brunswick for making this historic project happen and for honouring its obligation to protect the fisheries in the Petitcodiac,” he concluded.