This Week in New Brunswick

Couple creates wall of manure to annoy neighbours

In a recent court case, Judge Rideout ruled that the Murrays of Indian Mountain Road purposefully piled a giant mound of manure along the property line of their neighbours, Dave and Joan Gallant, in 2013. The Gallants requested multiple times that the Murrays remove the pile of manure, but to no avail. The mound was finally hauled away in 2014. Rideout ruled that the Murrays committed nuisance, trespass and harassment, and ordered that the Murrays keep their animals off the Gallants’ property. The Murrays must now pay $17,689 in damages and court costs.

Maritimes to be disproportionately affected by sea-level rise

Boris Worm, marine research ecologist at Dalhousie University, said that the Maritimes will be among the hardest hit by sea-level rise. A report by the U.S. government predicts that by  2100, sea levels will have risen anywhere between 0.35 metres and 2.5 metres in New Brunswick, depending on the efforts taken to fight climate change. In an interview with the CBC, Worm said that every 0.35-metre rise increases the likelihood of powerful storm surges by 25 times. At the moment, storms surges powerful enough to threaten human life occur in the U.S. approximately every five years, according to the CBC. By 2100, storms of this magnitude will likely occur five times per year.

Carbon monoxide poisoning kills two, puts 42 in hospital

According to the CBC, carbon monoxide poisoning killed two people and left 42 others hospitalized in New Brunswick following last week’s severe ice storm. Some residents who lost power in the storm resorted to generators, space heaters, barbecues and camping equipment to heat their homes, which can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide, which has no smell, taste, or colour, is the product of an incomplete combustion of fossil fuels such as gasoline, oil, coal, wood, propane and natural gas. Signs of carbon monoxide poisoning include nausea, headache, fatigue and dizziness. In instances of high exposure, a person can fall asleep and never wake up. Provincial authorities have been trying to communicate the dangers of using outside heating equipment inside of the house to residents most drastically affected by power outages, such as the Acadian Peninsula.

Unexpectedly high number of power poles collapse during ice storm

N.B. Power managers and engineers are trying to decide whether the collapse of hundreds of power poles in the Acadian Peninsula following the ice storm was an anomaly or something that demands stronger, more expensive infrastructure. The collapse of so many poles considerably slowed the process of restoring power to the Acadian Peninsula, leaving thousands of residents without power for more than a week. According to the CBC, N.B. Power says there was nothing deficient in its equipment or engineering. Instead, N.B. Power spokespeople emphasized the abnormal nature of the storm to explain the collapse of the poles.

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