Environmental Impact Statement Proposed Acquisition of Snow Island’s Atlantic Sea Smolt Ltd. Facility 1300 Route No. 2 (Parcel Nos. 849505 and 1022300) Rollo Bay West, Kings County, PEI JOOSE ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT NO. JE0156 Report prepared for: Aqua Bounty Canada Inc. 718 Route No. 310 (Eglington Road) Fortune, PE C0A 2B0 Joose Environmental Consulting Inc. DE Jardine Consulting P.O. Box 19 (1088 Colville Road) 223 Winsloe Road (Rte. No. 223) North Wiltshire PEI C0A 1Y0 Winsloe South, PE C1E 2Y2 www.jooseenv.com www.dejardineconsulting.ca May 19, 2016 Environmental Impact Statement Proposed Acquisition and Redevelopment of Snow Island’s Atlantic Sea Smolt Facility Rollo Bay West, Kings County, Prince Edward Island Executive Summary Joose Environmental Consulting Inc. (Joose Environmental) and DE Jardine Consulting (DE Jardine) were contracted by Aqua Bounty Canada Inc. (Aqua Bounty) to complete an Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed acquisition and redevelopment of Snow Island’s Atlantic Sea Smolt Ltd. (ASSL) Facility located at 1300 Route No. 2 (Parcel No. 849505 and 1022300) in Rollo Bay West, Kings County, PEI. Aqua Bounty is proposing to acquire the ASSL property which has been a licensed aquaculture facility since 1978. Aqua Bounty plans to rear conventional Atlantic Salmon broodstock for egg production purposes. The proposed site will operate using groundwater on a flow-through basis. Effluent from the facility will be screened using mechanical barriers, enter a settling pond currently located on the property, and will be discharged into the adjacent stream which runs through the subject site. The subject site is located at civic address 1300 Route No. 2 in Rollo Bay West, Kings County, PEI and is identified as Parcel Nos. 849505 and 1022300 (refer to Figure No. 1 and Drawing No. 1, Appendix A). As previously indicated the site has been a licensed aquaculture facility since 1978 with extensive commercial development of the property. The EIA for the proposed project was completed as per Section 9 of the PEI Environmental Protection Act. The EIA evaluated the potential environmental effects of the proposed project taking into consideration all activities required for the construction, operation and maintenance of the facility. As part of the EIS the following mitigation and environmental monitoring elements will be adhered to during the construction and operation of the proposed facility, including: Mitigation • During construction and operation (including accidents, potential malfunctions and unplanned events) all provincial and federal codes, standards and best management practices will be followed; and • During operation mitigation for hazardous waste and non-hazardous waste will be conducted as outlined in Tables 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5 in Sections 3.2.8 and 3.2.9 of this report. ©Joose Environmental Consulting Inc. 2016 Project No. JE0156 - My 19, 2016 I ©DE Jardine Consulting 2016 Joose Environmental DE Jardine Consulting EIS - Proposed Acquisition and Redevelopment of Snow Island’s Atlantic Sea Smolt Facility Rollo Bay West, Kings County, Prince Edward Island Environmental Monitoring • During the construction period the construction manager will conduct regular environmental monitoring site inspections to ensure all construction components adhere to all provincial and federal regulations and codes; and • Monitoring of the effluent being discharged into the adjacent stream including samples being collected and analyzed for parameters required by the owners of the utility and the PEI Department of Communities, Land and Environment (PEIDCLE) once a year during the peak biomass rearing period typically in September (i.e., prior to the spawning season). Based on the information obtained during the completion of the EIA, it can be concluded that the potential environmental effects of the proposed project on all valued environmental components (VECs - listed in Section 6 of this report) would not be significant during the construction, operation and maintenance of the proposed facility with the planned mitigation and monitoring elements in place. Consequently, it is recommended that the proposed project should proceed as described and outlined in this report. The statements made in this Executive Summary text are subject to the limitations included in Section 8.0, and are to be read in conjunction with the remainder of this report. ©Joose Environmental Consulting Inc. 2016 Project No. JE0156 - May 19, 2016 ii ©DE Jardine Consulting 2016 Joose Environmental DE Jardine Consulting EIS - Proposed Acquisition and Redevelopment of Snow Island’s Atlantic Sea Smolt Facility Rollo Bay West, Kings County, Prince Edward Island Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 PROJECT NAME, PROPONENT INFORMATION AND AUTHORS OF EIS ....................... 1 1.2 PROJECT INFORMATION ................................................................................................. 1 1.2.1 Project Overview .................................................................................................. 1 1.2.2 Current Site Description, Historical and Adjacent Land Use ................................. 1 1.3 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ........................................................................................... 2 1.4 REGULATIONS AND STATUTES FOR ASSESSING THE PROJECT ............................... 3 2.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION .................................................................................................. 4 2.1 PROJECT BACKGROUND ................................................................................................. 4 2.2 ALTERNATIVES TO PROJECT (OPTIONS CONSIDERED) .............................................. 5 2.3 PROJECT SCHEDULE ....................................................................................................... 6 3.0 PROJECT ACTIVITIES ...................................................................................................... 7 3.1 PLANNING COMPONENT .................................................................................................. 7 3.1.1 Property Acquisition ............................................................................................. 7 3.1.2 Project Survey ...................................................................................................... 7 3.2 CONSTRUCTION COMPONENT ....................................................................................... 8 3.2.1 Site Preparation.................................................................................................... 8 3.2.2 Site Access .......................................................................................................... 8 3.2.3 Site Structures ...................................................................................................... 8 3.2.4 Site Services (Water, Sewer and Power) .............................................................13 3.2.5 Water Supply for Holding Tanks ..........................................................................14 3.2.6 Storm Water Management ..................................................................................15 3.2.7 Fuel Storage ........................................................................................................15 3.2.8 Hazardous Materials Storage ..............................................................................16 3.2.9 Non-Hazardous Materials Storage ......................................................................16 3.3 OPERATION COMPONENT ..............................................................................................17 3.3.1 Use of Facility ......................................................................................................17 3.3.2 Operating Hours ..................................................................................................18 3.3.3 Holding Tanks Operation and Biosecurity ............................................................19 3.3.4 Wastewater Management ....................................................................................21 3.3.5 Air Quality and Noise ...........................................................................................22 3.3.6 Site Security ........................................................................................................23 3.3.7 Emergency Response and Training.....................................................................23 3.3.8 Litter ....................................................................................................................23 3.4 DECOMMISSIONING ........................................................................................................24 4.0 SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT .................................................24 4.1 METHODOLOGY OF ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ................................................24 4.2 CONSULTATION ...............................................................................................................25 ©Joose Environmental Consulting Inc. 2016 Project No. JE0156 - May 19, 2016 iii ©DE Jardine Consulting 2016 Joose Environmental DE Jardine Consulting EIS - Proposed Acquisition and Redevelopment of Snow Island’s Atlantic Sea Smolt Facility Rollo Bay West, Kings County, Prince Edward Island 5.0 SUMMARY OF EXISTING ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING .................................................26 5.1 PHYSICAL