Debert Eco-Industrial Park A Land Capability Analysis Seela Amaratunga Heather Chisholm Amber Ellis Elizabeth Gillin Karen Neville Jonathan Paczkowski Dalhousie University Environmental Planning Studio Fall 2005 Abstract This report includes a complete a site analy- the first of its kind in Canada. The informa- sis, recommendations, and concepts for an tion gathered was used to prepare a set of ecologically based industrial park in Debert, recommendations to propose future concept Nova Scotia as researched by the students plans for the site. At present, there is no mu- of the Dalhousie Community Design, Envi- nicipal planning document for the Colchester ronmental Planning Studio completed the County region. The purpose of this report is study for the proposed Debert Eco-Industrial to analyze the land capability and develop a Park (DEIP). There are currently two indus- sustainable plan for the proposed DEIP. This trial parks in the study area, one provincially report focuses on the land capability aspect of owned and one municipally owned by the eco-industrial development and not the pro- Colchester Regional Development Agency cesses involved in the operations of an eco- (CoRDA). The Municipality of the County industrial park. The report was prepared for of Colchester and CoRDA want to acquire the Colchester Regional Development Agency the provincially owned land and develop the to assist with the promotion of community and site as a single park. A group of research- industrial development while also carefully ers headed by Ray Côté, a professor at Dal- considering the potential environmental im- housie University’s School for Resource and pacts that future development may have on Environmental Studies are working with the the community. municipality to develop an eco-industrial park, Contents Background on Debert 1 A Description of Debert Palaeo-Indian Site 2 What is an Eco-Industrial Park? 3 The Problem 4 A New Approach to Industrial Development 5 Goals 6 Method 7 Inventory: A description of the Debert Industrial Site 9 Interpretation: Opportunities and Limitations for Development of Debert Eco-Industrial Park 13 Opportunities Map 17 Sensitivities Map 19 Recommendations: For Debert Eco-Industrial and Community Development 21 Land Capability Map 25 Design Concept 27 Design Concept Map 31 Conclusion 33 Map Appendices Appendix 1: Context 34 Appendix 2: Watershed for McElmon’s Pond 35 Appendix 3: Wetzones 36 Appendix 4: Bedrock 37 Appendix 5: Surficial Geology 38 Appendix 6: Soil 39 Appendix 7: Elevation 40 Appendix 8: Slope 41 Appendix 9: Slope Aspect 42 Appendix 10: Habitat 43 Appendix 11: Land Use 44 Appendices 45 References 53 Location Map (Nova Scotia Debert Map, 2005) Background of Debert The Colchester Regional Development Provincially owned land, privately owned Agency (CoRDA) has indicated that they wish industrial land, and land owned by CoRDA. to acquire the provincially owned land and CoRDA hopes to acquire a portion of the pro- combine it with the municipally owned land to vincially owned land to expand the industrial develop an industrial park. The park is located park. Much of the land owned by CoRDA is in central Nova Scotia, 16 km northwest of located at the former Canadian Forces Station Truro, and approximately 100 km from down- Debert, mainly active during the mid-twentieth town Halifax (McGhie, et al., 2005). The study century. area is divided into the following sections: Property Ownership Base Map of Debert Area Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations Printed September 2005 Debert Eco-Industrial Park ~ 1 ~ A Description of the Debert Palaeo-Indian Site Debert is one of North America’s earliest Act which protects archaeological sites from known settlements based on historical arti- development or disturbance. The protected facts found on the site (McGhie, et al., 2005). area now covers 130 hectares. An adjacent Radiocarbon dating puts the age of these arti- 520 hectares belongs to the Department of facts at approximately 10,600 years old (Nova Natural Resources Tree Breeding Centre. Scotia Museum, 1996). The archaeological (Nova Scotia Museum, 1996). site, known as the Debert Palaeo-Indian Site, is located three miles southwest of the town The local Mi’kmaq community have estab- of Debert. Since its discovery in 1948 over lished an interpretative trail adjacent to the 4500 artifacts have been recovered. This is archaeological site highlighting the cultural the only Palaeo-Indian site in Nova Scotia and significance of the site. is the earliest known archaeological site in the province. The site is currently protected under [See Appendix A for further archaeological The Nova Scotia Special Places Protection information] Mi’kmawey Interpretive Trail (Authors’ Photo) Debert Eco-Industrial Park ~ 2 ~ What is an Eco-industrial Park? The future Debert Industrial Park has the po- structure, cleaner production, pollution pre- tential to be one of the first eco-industrial park vention, energy efficiency, and inter-company in Canada and to act as a model for other partnering (Lowe, 2005). industrial parks around the world. Industries within an eco-industrial park cooperate closely Eco-industrial parks also aim to develop within to improve their environmental and economic the capability of the landscape to support an performance by reducing waste and increas- intended industrial use. In this respect indus- ing resource efficiency. They may coordinate trial development is dependent on the natural their activities to increase efficient use of raw systems in which it operates. Development materials, reduce outputs of waste, conserve works as a participant in conjunction with the energy and water resources, and reduce surrounding ecosystem. Eco-industrial de- transportation requirements (Spohn, 2005). velopment attempts to minimize disturbance Resource efficiency translates into economic to natural systems, cultural landscapes, and gains for businesses while the surrounding community social structures while integrating community benefits from improvements in human economic activity with environmental environmental health and new employment sensitivities. This eco-industrial park will in- opportunities (Spohn, 2005). Components of clude residential and recreational uses along this approach include carefully placed infra- with other amenities. Debert Eco-Industrial Park ~ 3 ~ The Problem Industrial development has traditionally had a composition of future development on the negative impact on the ecosystems in which Debert site. The challenge is how to match it is situated. By using the concepts of indus- land capability and land-use with sustainable trial ecology as an alternative, this report will industrial development. help CoRDA guide the location, form, and © Miller Goodall Debert Eco-Industrial Park ~ 4 ~ A New Approach to Industrial Development We are taking an environmentally conscious work, and play. Eco-industrial development approach to managing industrial, residential will also include the provision of local housing and recreational developments. This approach for employees. The optimum locations for de- requires that the location and physical form velopment will be identified to take advantage of human intervention in the landscape works of natural processes, and reduce negative in conjunction with existing natural systems environmental, social, or economic impacts. to promote healthy places for people to live, Current Industrial Development at Debert (Authors Photo) Debert Eco-Industrial Park ~ 5 ~ Goals Our goal for DEIP is to identify potential indus- Many of these goals were derived from the trial development areas that will impact mini- US Green Building Council’s Leadership in mally on natural systems. Our research has Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) revealed that DEIP possesses several sensi- Documents. LEED is a rating system for new tive areas that should be preserved. Based commercial construction that encourages on the information gathered in our inventory builders to utilize green building practices we have developed a list of site specific pri- such as increasing energy and water efficien- mary, secondary and tertiary environmental cy (LEED-ND, 2005). goals for DEIP: Based on the LEED documents for green Primary Goals: Maintain the integrity of the neighbourhood development (LEED-ND, water processes within the study area 2005), we plan to incorporate the following • Protect the supply and quality of ground- principles into our final recommendations: water resources • Location efficiency by encouraging devel- • Protect McElmon’s Pond and its water- opment within already serviced existing shed urban area. • Protect wetlands • Development should minimizes environ- mental impacts and physical disturbance Secondary Goals: Protect important site to the landscape. Features • Development must include compact, • Preserve the Debert Wildlife Management complete, and connected neighbourhoods Area including a mix of residential, commercial, • Preserve the Archaeological Site and adja- industrial, recreational, and cultural op- cent trails portunities. These neighbourhoods should • Preserve tree breeding centre be walkable and well connected to their • Preserve Intervale Habitats surroundings. Tertiary Goals: Take advantage of past activities within DEIP • Utilize existing infrastructure • Retain and reuse old military buildings McElmon’s Pond (Authors’ Photo) Debert Eco-Industrial Park ~ 6 ~ Method A 1:20 000 scale base map with 5 metre con- A study area boundary combines the tour intervals was obtained