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Northeast Avalon
ACAP, Inc.
172 Military Road
P.O. Box 1027,
Station "C"
St. John's, NL
A1C 5M5

Tel: 709-726-9673
Fax: 709-726-2764

info@naacap.ca

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ACAP Inc.

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Action Plan

Northeast Avalon Atlantic Coastal Action Program, (NAACAP) Inc.

Environmental Action Plan 2006

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Overview of Northeast Avalon ACAP, Inc.
St. John's Harbour Atlantic Coastal Action Program (ACAP), Inc. was founded in early 1993 by a group of citizen and government stakeholders under an initiative developed and supported by Environment Canada with a primary focus of bringing sewage treatment to the St. John's Region. With the announcement of tri-level government funding for this project in November 2002, St. John's Harbour ACAP was able to change its mandate to address additional environmental problems within our urban region. In 2005 St. John's Harbour ACAP revised its focus and expanded its geographical area of interest to include the watersheds of the Northeast Avalon. To reflect this new situation the organization changed its name to Northeast Avalon ACAP.

Initially our organization's energies were almost entirely dedicated towards addressing the lack of any treatment for the 120,000 cubic metres per day of raw sewage and stormwater entering St. John's Harbour, and the focus of the original Comprehensive Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) released in 1997 reflected those goals and objectives. Our early years were dedicated to defining the scope of the problem, reviewing existing scientific and technical information, identifying knowledge gaps and conducting a number of research projects to address some of those essential gaps, and seeking public input on our community's expectations prior to developing a management plan to determine how the discharge of raw sewage should best be addressed.

The organization was pivotal in raising public awareness of the issues associated with the need for municipal wastewater treatment, in seeking public consensus and developing public support for the project, and in seeking government commitment for the financial support for the project.

1.2 Geographic Area of Interest
In redefining Northeast Avalon ACAP's scope of work, we have also reviewed our geographic area of interest, and have adjusted our boundaries accordingly. The revised ACAP project area includes the watersheds and coastal areas of the Northeast Avalon that are bounded by the Witless Bay Line from Holyrood to Witless Bay, and north to Cape St. Francis.
The revised project area encompasses the watersheds, harbours and coastline of the Northeast Avalon. Throughout this document this will be referred to as the "ACAP project area".

1.3 Mission Statement
We have revised our mission statement to more accurately reflect the goals and objectives of outlined in this document. Our mission statement now reads:

MISSION: Northeast Avalon ACAP is a citizens' organization that works with all sectors of the community, including all three levels of government, to protect and enhance the aquatic environmental quality of the watersheds and coastline within the ACAP project area.

2.0 REVISED FOCUS OF NORTHEAST AVALON ACAP
This revised CEMP is a working document that reflects the consensus that has been reached through discussions and information gathering in developing a focus of the priority areas that need to be addressed. Periodic revision and review will ensure that our management plan remains responsive to the needs of the community and to changes in the local environment. The following list of goals and objectives outlines the areas of concern that we plan to address in the next three-to-five years. We have arranged them into major themes, recognizing that the activities to address these themes will sometimes overlap.

A. Sewershed Issues
The announcement of tri-level government funding for a sewage treatment plant in November, 2002 marked a major milestone for what was then St. John's Harbour ACAP. For the first ten years of its existence most of the organization's energies were expended to reach that goal. While final decisions have recently be made, and the necessary approvals granted, on the major design aspects of the sewage treatment system, details on a number of related components to the treatment process still need to be finalized. We now must continue to facilitate public input and focus attention on those aspects to create the best sewage treatment system possible.

A. 1 Encourage broad public input at all stages in the development of the sewage treatment plant (STP) to ensure that the STP is the most environmentally, socially, technically and economically responsible approach to deal with the sewage entering St. John's Harbour including the handling of any waste generated from the treatment process.

A. 2 Establish a comprehensive program to promote and achieve improved water conservation to reduce demands on the regional water supply and sanitary sewage treatment system.

A. 3 Assist government agencies in developing an effective source control program to control the release of pollutants entering the sanitary sewer and stormwater systems.

A. 4 Conduct analysis on the contamination levels in sludge extracted from the sanitary sewers to adequately understand whether additional treatment would be required for the treatment of biosolids at the STP.

A. 5 Work with government agencies to establish a permanent, small volume hazardous waste collection system with strategically located depots for easy access. This would contribute significantly to diverting and preventing toxic chemicals from entering the sanitary or stormwater systems where they could negatively affect the operation and effectiveness of the sewage treatment plant.

B. Watershed Issues
Northeast Avalon ACAP has been concerned with watershed issues since it's inception. We've partnered with other environmental groups and government agencies on a number of initiatives including salmon restoration, public awareness and an investigation of the run off from Robin Hood Bay. We were instrumental in organising the Urban Rivers Confluence and helping establish the Urban Rivers Coalition. We are a member of groups such as the Pesticide Working Group and have long held an interest in issues like storm water run off and on-site sewage treatment and how they affect the health of our watersheds. The following objectives reflect our concern with the urban watersheds and strengthen our ability to protect them.

B. 1 Continue to monitor the environmental health of all watersheds within the ACAP project area through a community directed, scientifically defensible approach. Such a program includes sampling and testing of the harbour waters and sediments, as well as the waters and sediments of the rivers within the geographic area of interest of Northeast Avalon ACAP.

B. 2 Assist in establishing community consensus on environmental use objectives for our watersheds to set environmental quality standards our community can work to achieve.

B. 3 Create a remedial action plan to achieve the environmental standards set through the community consensus process.

B. 4 Continue to work towards maintaining the natural bio-diversity of our watersheds.

B. 5 Work with municipalities and other agencies to develop projects that would provide stormwater retention features to curb instantaneous run-off into our rivers and provide opportunities for the settling of pollutants to improve water quality.

B. 6 Conduct research on the environmental impacts of the existing Robin Hood Bay dumpsite, assess the results, and, if appropriate, to seek consensus on developing alternative practices.

B. 7 Conduct microbial analysis of the water and sediments in the leachate stream from the Robin Hood Bay dumpsite to determine whether these bacteria are capable of degrading any of the toxins present in the stream.

B. 8 Gather information on non-point sources of pollution and work towards minimizing their impacts.

B. 9 Develop a program to assist the 2000+ owner/users of on-site septic systems within the ACAP project area to operate their units more efficiently.

B. 10 Develop projects to promote alternatives to the use of pesticides for cosmetic use by area residents to incorporate in their gardening/landscaping practices.

B. 11 Promote the protection of natural, undisturbed vegetative buffers along all watercourses.
Coastal Issues

As our name implies, coastal issues are of paramount concern to our organisation. Over the past decade we have conducted a number of scientific investigations both inside and outside of the harbour. We have gauged public opinion on attitudes about the harbour, organised beach sweeps and continue to offer presentations on a variety of issues affecting our coastal waters. We will continue all of these activities as we work with our partners to identify and address the stresses facing our coastal waters.

C. 1 Determine the environmental health of St. John's Harbour and our coastal areas through a community directed, scientifically defensible approach.

C. 2 Establish community consensus on environmental objectives for St. John's Harbour and all coastal areas within the ACAP project area based on types of use, i.e. commercial, recreational, etc.

C. 3 Create a remedial action plan to address any identified problem areas within St. John's Harbour or along our coastline, including any of the receiving coastal waters within our geographic area.

C. 4 Promote the development, by the appropriate regulatory agencies, of the necessary contingency plans to deal with a oil spill in our coastal waters and along our shores.

C. 5 Investigate the potential causes of oil spills in St. John's Harbour, and work cooperatively with regulatory agencies, industry, and other users to address any problem areas.

D. Water Use Issues
It has been reported in a number of journals that the residents of the St. John's Metropolitan Region use more water per capita than almost anyone else on earth (given that St. John's residents are claimed to be the highest users of water in Canada, and that Canadians fall just short of Americans in being the highest users of water per capita in the world). There is obviously plenty of room for improvement in the daily water use practices of our local citizenry. We have developed and delivered some innovative projects to deal with this, such as our successful Rain Barrel Project. However, much more needs to be done and we will continue to develop actions to deal with this problem.

D. 1 Develop projects that promote the adoption of water saving devices and lifestyle changes to reduce water use by area residents, and operational practices by businesses and institutions.

D. 2 Explore the various economic instruments pertaining to the delivery of water to promote a user-pay ethic that would increase water conservation.

D. 3 Work with all government agencies to ensure the continued protection of our regional water supply for present and future generations.

E. Related Activities
Much of our effectiveness over the last decade can be attributed to our ability in forging strong action oriented partnerships. We are committed to further cultivating these highly productive relationships while creating new ones. We will also maintain our practice of keeping our board and staff up to date on new technological developments and scientific research. Northeast Avalon ACAP recognises that one of its main roles is as a facilitator among stakeholders. We will continue to work to provide opportunities for public input into environmental issues and to provide information to interested citizens in an accurate, timely fashion.

E. 1 Interact with public and private agencies, other organizations with related objectives and all levels of government to encourage co-operation amongst these groups regarding the Harbour clean-up and water quality issues in the ACAP project area.

E. 2 Promote environmental awareness, protection and rehabilitation within the ACAP project area.

E. 3 Conduct public education and awareness programs, including presentations to schools and service groups, industries, other NGO's, unions, and the general public. This includes displays at public events, media relations, maintenance of our resource library, web site and billboard, continued publication of our newsletter, and political lobbying, etc.E. 4 In all of the project areas that have been defined, it is important to gather any available literature related to the topic, define any knowledge gaps, and then proceed to conduct the relevant research to address those gaps prior to formulating any conclusions or decisive action.

E. 5 Continue to respond to emerging environmental issues effectively.

Conclusion
This Environmental Action Plan is designed to serve as a blueprint for Northeast Avalon ACAP for the next five years. It was arrived at through a series of consultations with board members and staff. It is a reflection of their experience, commitment, and vision. Subsequent Boards can use this document as they decide on their future course of action. All the objectives fall under Northeast Avalon ACAP'S mandate. This document is meant to be flexible. Different Boards can emphasize and prioritise different aspects of the Action Plan, and of course, amendments can be made in the future to deal with evolving situations.

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