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Sep 2, 2016

Water access without prejudice

AquaBounty has gone above and beyond the requirements of other permit holders. A recent letter to the editor by members of the Coalition for the Protection of P.E.I. Waters accuses the government of expediting the approval process for AquaBounty Technologies (ABT), so that the company can bypass a Water Act. This complaint doesn’t make any sense, for a number of reasons. Primarily, there is currently no Water Act. One is expected to land in the legislature in early 2017, but who knows how long the process of enactment will take. The group suggested that the Department should delay its approval of ABT’s permit until the Act is enacted, which is ludicrous. Until the Water Act is passed, the government is obliged to follow the regulations currently in place. It cannot put on hold all of the applications it receives until the new Water Act is in place. The fact is that AquaBounty is the company that is applying for the water permits, and the unjustified complaints seem to be the latest attempt to quell any advancement by the company.  Read article here.