Nova Scotia MLAs questioning AI data centre's approval without environmental assessment

MLAs questioned why Nova Scotia is not requiring an environmental assessment for EverWind’s proposed data centre slated for Point Tupper, with officials maintaining existing regulations are enough to address concerns. 

At a standing committee meeting on natural resources, Interim Liberal Leader Iain Rankin asked what requirements would apply to the data centre, separate from EverWind’s past hydrogen proposal. 

In response, Lora MacEachern, deputy minister of environment and climate change, said existing regulations can address the project’s environmental impacts without a separate assessment. She said the department makes use of different approval processes depending on the project and its risks to the environment. 

“Environmental assessment is a tool that we use in some cases, but it is not absolutely required for effective environmental regulation,” MacEachern said Tuesday.

An application for industrial approval has been submitted by EverWind for potential onsite diesel power generation. The application is under review.  

Another protection already in place, according to the department, is for water usage. 

MacEachern said the project’s water usage would be covered under existing approval from the Landrie Lake Water Utility. 

EverWind chief financial officer Matthew Tinari said the water the data centre is projected to use once fully developed represents only 1.5 per cent of Lake Landrie’s estimated sustainable daily yield. 

“We’re projecting average consumption of approximately 500,000 litres per day,” Tinari said.  

“These requirements are significantly lower than some existing industries in Nova Scotia and equate to lower water usage than a golf course.” 

MacEachern said an environmental assessment is an “upfront planning-type approval,” while industrial approval covers the operation and construction of a facility. She added that if the industrial approval goes through, it comes with “legally enforceable terms and conditions, and those terms and conditions really dictate how the company can operate.” 

Do the rules need an update?

Later in the meeting, NDP MLA Susan Leblanc raised the question of whether the province needs to update assessment regulations to address data centres. She said that with recent increases to power rates, Nova Scotians need a guarantee that all extra power costs will be EverWind’s burden. She cited a Sept. 17 government briefing note obtained through a freedom of information request. 

“Nova Scotia does not have a regulatory process specific to data centres,” Leblanc said. “The approval EverWind secured was for the green hydrogen energy generation, not a data centre.”  

MacEachern said the department reviews legislation regularly to ensure “it can be most effectively applied and whether changes are appropriate.”

When asked if EverWind would do an environmental assessment if required, Tinari said the company would do whatever was necessary.