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Group aims at bid to lift P.E.I. deep well moratorium

March 5, 2014, Charlottetown, PEI – A national advocacy group says the P.E.I. government should think twice before it lifts a moratorium on deep-water wells for irrigation.

Maude Barlow, national chairwoman of the Council of Canadians, has joined a coalition of Islanders who believe lifting the moratorium would be devastating to the Island’s groundwater supply.

Barlow told a news conference recently that more scientific study is needed before any deep wells are drilled.

Food industry giant Cavendish Farms and the P.E.I. Potato Board have been lobbying the Liberal government to lift the moratorium.

They say they need the wells to irrigate potato fields during the dry summer months.

Two weeks ago, bureaucrats with the Environment Department said P.E.I. is using only seven per cent of water available within current regulations, prompting Environment Minister Janice Sherry to suggest the Island has “more than enough water to meet our needs.”