Latest news with #GillesLePage
CTV News
4 days ago
- Health
- CTV News
Carleton North daycare facility to receive funding from New Brunswick government
The Step Ahead – Bath Family Learning Centre is receiving funding towards building a new educational daycare facility from the Government of New Brunswick. The centre, located in Carleton North, will receive $840,000 to support construction of an accessible 743-square metre facility. 'This funding will reduce waitlists and open more doors to ensure families in this region receive the services they need for their children,' said Environment and Climate Change Minister Gilles LePage, who is also minister responsible for the Regional Development Corporation. 'This space will give children more learning opportunities, and help families access affordable childcare.' The initiative has also received support from the local community and $500,000 from the federal government through the Canada-New Brunswick Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. The agreement is committed to creating 3,400 new designated early learning childcare spaces by March 31, 2026. 'I am incredibly proud to see the Step Ahead – Bath Family Learning Centre becoming a reality,' said Carleton North Mayor Andrew Harvey. 'This new daycare facility will be a game-changer for our local families, offering high-quality and affordable childcare right here in our community. It will mean that more children will have access to early-learning opportunities, which will help establish the foundation for their lifelong success.' The facility will offer child-care services for six infants, 56 children aged two to four, 10 preschoolers and 45 after-school participants. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTV News
22-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
New Brunswick's air quality meets standards: provincial report
The New Brunswick government says a new report shows the province's air quality meets standards. The report, which monitored air quality in the year 2023, detected 10 exceedances of the provincial standards for contaminants. The province says the instances were corrected by the industry that caused them, or simply through changing weather conditions. Environment and Climate Change Minister Gilles LePage says air quality has improved over the years in the province. Annual reports date back to 1996. 'New Brunswickers have made it clear that clean air is important to them, and this has shaped my mandate as minister. I look forward to meeting with the public and stakeholders later this year to discuss how we can make further improvements,' he said in a provincial news release. The full report is available on the province's website. It says while overall air quality is good, challenges remain achieving Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards for sulfur dioxide in some areas. The Department of Environment and Local Government says it is committed to working towards improvements. An online air quality data portal is available on its website with real-time local air quality information. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTV News
20-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
N.B. minister recuses himself from assessment of Saint John industrial park expansion
Gilles LePage, minister of Environment and Climate Change, has recused himself from an assessment of an industrial park. (Source: Facebook/Gilles LePage)
CBC
10-04-2025
- General
- CBC
At least 174,000 litres of diesel recovered from gas station leak in Woodstock, province says
The New Brunswick government now says 174,000 litres of diesel fuel leaked from an Irving gas station in Woodstock, up from earlier an estimate of 100,000 litres. And it's significantly larger than the 5,000 litres first estimated when the leak was discovered in December. "To date, approximately 174,000 litres of diesel has been recovered," said Vicky Lutes, spokesperson for the Department of Environment and Climate Change, in an email. Back in mid-December, a Tim Hortons on Beardsley Road, which is beside Murray's Irving gas station and restaurant, reported its water was contaminated with fuel. That led the restaurant and gas station to close following the discovery of the diesel leak at the Irving. The new figure comes two days after the department announced it was launching provincewide inspections of retail gas stations to "confirm regulatory compliance and to ensure that site owners have proper measures in place for detecting and managing petroleum product spills." The statement posted on the Department of the Environment website also says the inspections have been launched after "receiving further information last week from Irving Oil Ltd. on the circumstances of the spill." CBC News requested an interview with Environment Minister Gilles LePage to ask about the inspections, but was told he was unavailable. On March 25, LePage said in the legislature there was an investigation into the leak. CBC News has requested additional details about that process, but the department has not provided any. In the more than three months since CBC News began reporting on this leak, no one from the Department of Environment or Irving Oil Ltd. has been made available to answer questions about the leak and the potential risks to local well water. According to documents obtained by CBC News through a right to information request, the diesel leak was first detected on Dec. 13, 2024. Irving Oil Ltd. was deemed the party responsible for the leak by the province. A faulty elbow pipe leading to an underground storage tank was found to be the source. But so far neither Irving Oil nor the province have stated how long the fuel had been leaking. Some people in Woodstock have said they detected diesel in the water at the Tim Hortons several weeks before anything was done. According to Service New Brunswick's property-based environmental information database, there are four double-walled underground fuel storage tanks at the Beardsley Road Irving station, which are registered with the province under the Petroleum Product Storage and Handling Regulations. Three are used to store diesel, while the fourth houses gasoline. One of those diesel tanks was installed in 2003 and holds 65,000 litres of fuel. A second 50,000-litre tank was also installed in 2003. The third was installed in 2016 and has a storage capacity of 100,000 litres. It is unclear which tank housed the faulty elbow pipe. But all handle less fuel than is reported to have leaked. Those same documents list the Irving Oil property and the neighbouring Tim Hortons as contaminated with petroleum, and they say Irving Oil Ltd. is the party responsible for remediation. 29 days ago Duration 4:49 For three months, crews have worked to clean up what could be more than 100,000 litres of diesel. But neither Irving Oil Ltd. nor the province has answered questions about how the leak went undetected. CBC News requested an interview with Irving Oil Ltd. but did not receive a response. On April 7, the company issued a statement on its website about the spill. "On-site filtration systems ensured public safety was not compromised at any time as a result of this incident. Potable well water testing – both regulated and voluntary – has been ongoing in the surrounding area with results consistently falling within safe parameters," the statement says. That statement goes on to say that "systems and processes in place to protect against and prevent this unfortunate incident did not operate as intended. We have undertaken a thorough and extensive review of this matter to prevent further occurrences."
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
At least 174,000 litres of diesel recovered from gas station leak in Woodstock, province says
The New Brunswick government now says 174,000 litres of diesel fuel leaked from an Irving gas station in Woodstock, up from earlier an estimate of 100,000 litres. And it's significantly larger than the 5,000 litres first estimated when the leak was discovered in December. "To date, approximately 174,000 litres of diesel has been recovered," said Vicky Lutes, spokesperson for the Department of Environment and Climate Change, in an email. Back in mid-December, a Tim Hortons on Beardsley Road, which is beside Murray's Irving gas station and restaurant, reported its water was contaminated with fuel. That led the restaurant and gas station to close following the discovery of the diesel leak at the Irving. The new figure comes two days after the department announced it was launching provincewide inspections of retail gas stations to "confirm regulatory compliance and to ensure that site owners have proper measures in place for detecting and managing petroleum product spills." The statement posted on the Department of the Environment website also says the inspections have been launched after "receiving further information last week from Irving Oil Ltd. on the circumstances of the spill." CBC News requested an interview with Environment Minister Gilles LePage to ask about the inspections, but was told he was unavailable. On March 25, LePage said in the legislature there was an investigation into the leak. CBC News has requested additional details about that process, but the department has not provided any. In the more than three months since CBC News began reporting on this leak, no one from the Department of Environment or Irving Oil Ltd. has been made available to answer questions about the leak and the potential risks to local well water. According to documents obtained by CBC News through a right to information request, the diesel leak was first detected on Dec. 13, 2024. Irving Oil Ltd. was deemed the party responsible for the leak by the province. A faulty elbow pipe leading to an underground storage tank was found to be the source. But so far neither Irving Oil nor the province have stated how long the fuel had been leaking. Some people in Woodstock have said they detected diesel in the water at the Tim Hortons several weeks before anything was done. A faulty elbow pipe leading to an underground diesel storage tank was found to be responsible for the leak, which is now estimated at 174,000 litres, to date. (Province of New Brunswick) According to Service New Brunswick's property-based environmental information database, there are four double-walled underground fuel storage tanks at the Beardsley Road Irving station, which are registered with the province under the Petroleum Product Storage and Handling Regulations. Three are used to store diesel, while the fourth houses gasoline. One of those diesel tanks was installed in 2003 and holds 65,000 litres of fuel. A second 50,000-litre tank was also installed in 2003. The third was installed in 2016 and has a storage capacity of 100,000 litres. It is unclear which tank housed the faulty elbow pipe. But all handle less fuel than is reported to have leaked. Those same documents list the Irving Oil property and the neighbouring Tim Hortons as contaminated with petroleum, and they say Irving Oil Ltd. is the party responsible for remediation. CBC News requested an interview with Irving Oil Ltd. but did not receive a response. On April 7, the company issued a statement on its website about the spill. "On-site filtration systems ensured public safety was not compromised at any time as a result of this incident. Potable well water testing – both regulated and voluntary – has been ongoing in the surrounding area with results consistently falling within safe parameters," the statement says. That statement goes on to say that "systems and processes in place to protect against and prevent this unfortunate incident did not operate as intended. We have undertaken a thorough and extensive review of this matter to prevent further occurrences."
