MELFORD, GUYSBOROUGH COUNTY — A proposed $300-million
container terminal cleared an important hurdle Thursday
when it received conditional environmental approval from
the provincial and federal governments.
Officials with Melford International Terminal Inc. (MITI)
say they can now move on to the next stage of
development of the container terminal and logistics park
that is to be constructed on the mainland side of the
Strait of Canso at the Melford industrial land reserve.
That work will include purchasing land, securing a
building permit and finalizing operator and rail service
agreements, as well as establishing construction
timelines, completing detailed design, and marketing the
project.
“We’re able to move forward and work on finalizing a
lot of agreements and arrangements,” project
spokesperson Richie Mann said. “When you don’t own
something and you don’t have permits to do anything on
it, you’re unable to conclude a lot of agreements.”
He added that while the environmental impact
statement approval came a few months later than
originally hoped, the project remains on track for an
anticipated opening in 2011. “Having obtained this
approval is a significant accomplishment,” MITI chair
Hugh Lynch said in a news release. “People in the global
shipping and transportation industry understand the
significance of this regulatory approval. It shows that
we have done our homework, it triggers an exciting next
stage for this project, and gives us tremendous
momentum.”
MITI is developing a 315-acre deep-water container
terminal, intermodal rail facility and 1,500-acre
logistics park at Melford on the Strait of Canso. The
greenfield project is privately funded and investors are
seeking no money from taxpayers. MITI is billing the
project as the closest North American deep-water
mainland port to Europe, Asia and the Indian
subcontinent, via the Suez Canal.
Mann said the process may have taken a bit longer
because proponents did some work up front that in other
cases may have been tackled after conditional approval
was received. “We did a lot of work up front that
satisfied what otherwise may have been conditions at the
tail end,” he said.
Company officials have signed off on the approval and
will now develop plans to comply with the conditions
attached, which were described as not being particularly
onerous. Mann said some of the provisions include the
need for dust and noise control, monitoring of various
components, and signing off on agreements with both
provincial and federal government agencies. Mann noted
that it would be naive to think that the current global
economic uncertainty won’t impact every major project
currently underway around the world, but added he
believes the MITI project meets the basic requirements
that need to be addressed in seeking financing,
including now the elimination of the regulatory risk.
“First and foremost, the project remains viable,” he
said, adding that because of the mounting cost pressures
facing shippers the advantages Melford should be able to
offer, including shorter sailing times, over other ports
become even more attractive.
A separate group of proponents is also working toward
development of a container terminal at the port of
Sydney, and is currently awaiting environmental approval
of a plan to dredge the outer channel of Sydney harbour,
which would allow it to accommodate much larger ships. –
Cape Breton Post
