MEDIA RELEASE

Friends of McNabs Island call for immediate action on the Harbour Solutions malfunction

(May 29, 2009, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) - The Friends of McNabs Island Society call on Mayor Kelly, HRM Council and Halifax Harbour Solutions to immediately reinstall the screens that were keeping garbage such as used tampon applicators, condoms and syringes from being discharged into Halifax Harbour.

We also call upon HRM to begin a public education program immediately telling Halifax area residents not to flush garbage like tampon applicators down the toilets. This unsightly garbage makes its way through the sewer system, into the Harbour and collects on the beautiful beaches of our Harbour islands, which is a provincial park and national historic site.

Since 1991, the Friends of McNabs Island have been cleaning up the beaches of McNabs and Lawlor Islands Provincial Park located at the mouth of Halifax Harbour. Over the years, our volunteers have collected more than 8,250 bags of garbage from the beaches of this provincial park. This is the largest and longest running cleanup effort in the Maritimes.

On Sunday June 7, in celebration of Oceans Day and Environment Week, our volunteers will once again scour the beaches cleaning up garbage as part of our annual McNabs and Lawlor Islands Beach Cleanup. Sadly along with discarded coffee cups and plastic garbage of all types, volunteers can expect to find garbage that HRM has allowed to be flushed down the toilets of Halifax area homes and businesses.

For more information contact:

Cathy McCarthy
President, Friends of McNabs Island Society
902-434-2254 (evenings & weekends)
902-456-9167 (cell)
mcnabs@chebucto.ns.ca