Permitting process...oooofff

Department of Fisheries and Ocean (DFO)

Department of Natural Resources (DNR)

New Brunswick Department of Environment (NBDOE)

The first step in the whole permit application process is to send my "Plan of Attack" to DFO and see if they have any initial concerns. They are usually the show stoppers and can basically tell you if you have any chances to get passed them or not. Applying to the province first and getting approval from them does not signify approval from DFO (Federal). I contacted DFO last week asking if they had received my package. We talked about the project and everything looks good to get things officially started. Half the battle is over.

I now have to start the whole application process with NBDOE and get a standard watercourse alteration permit. My package is ready but I need a few approvals before sending it off or else the application may be rejected if it lacks all the required information. The permit requires me to ask permission from the riverbed owner(s), the adjacent land owner(s) and verify with the municipality if I will be violating any by laws. I have checked with the local planning commission and everything is clear with them. For those who want to know, the river bed above the dam is owned by the crown (DNR). If you want to do any work on crown land, you must fill out an application form as well. This application form asks a bunch of questions including if I have asked the adjacent land owners (shoreline) permission. They also want copies attached to their application form. The adjacent land owner (shore on both sides of the river) is the power commission (NB Power). They own a strip of land all along the shore within the head pond area created by the dam. I have contacted the power commission last week and sent them an e-mail containing all the information I had sent to DFO. I called NB Power today to see if they had received my e-mail last Friday. They did and told me someone would be contacting me in the days to come for further questions relating to my request.

So right now, I am waiting for the power commission to give me the "OK". Then I can turn around and attach "OK#1" to the crown land application and send that one off to them. Once I get OK#2 from the crown, I can then attach OK#1 and OK#2 to the NBDOE application and expect to get an answer from them within two months. What a process to go play in the sand!!!

Here is a picture I got from East Dive this week when I asked them to send me something to add to the NBDOE application. This is the proposed equipment we will be using to dig up the mound. It's a pretty simple concept, the flow of water in the high pressure line is so fast that it sucks up the silt into the line thus moving the soils to another location.