Serious health concerns, lack of consultation: AWI founder slams NB Power’s proposed Isthmus gas plant
Barry Rothfuss fought back tears during an interview at the Atlantic Wildlife Institute (AWI) on Friday.
“I’m sorry, it shouldn’t be this hard. I was awake in the night trying to decide whether to tell you this,” he said as he struggled with his emotions.
Rothfuss is executive director of AWI and co-founder of the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition (PCIC) that is fighting against NB Power’s plans for a 500 MW gas/diesel generating plant near Centre Village.
“I was born with a heart defect, a bicuspid aortic valve,” he says and, after another long pause, he describes how, in 2013, he was hired to investigate the deaths of 7,500 migratory songbirds that flew into a burning gas flare at the Canaport LNG facility in Saint John.
He was there because AWI is the only organization in Atlantic Canada certified to deal with threats to wildlife and to suggest ways of mitigating damage when it occurs.
“I was responding to an event where I was trying to do good,” he says, adding that during his investigation he was exposed to particulate matter from the burning gas.
“My heart was susceptible to that pollutant,” he says. “It had a direct impact on the functioning of my heart. I now have to live with heart failure.”
Rothfuss takes several prescription drugs to keep him alive.
“Now, I’m having a gas plant brought to my backyard,” he says. “It’s not just me. It’s anybody out there who has similar types of health conditions, and particularly elderly people.”
He says if the gas plant is built only 4.5 kilometres from AWI, he will have to shut the place down.
“Again, the issue isn’t just me,” he says. “There are tens of thousands of people who have been exposed to similar types of plants around the world and who are dying from this type of technology being thrust upon them without their ability to discuss it.”
Lack of public consultation
Signs at the proposed Centre Village gas plant site mark where contractors have already cleared trees and built access roads. Photo: Bruce Wark
Rothfuss accuses NB Power and the U.S. company PROENERGY of deliberately bypassing regulations that require public and Indigenous consultation early in the planning stages before a project is designed and before a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIA) is produced.
“All of their internal documents were advising them to consult the community and they ignored it,” he says, adding that the announcement of the gas/diesel plant on July 14th came as a complete surprise to the people in Centre Village, Cookville and Midgic.
“Contracts had already been signed and we had no input,” he says.
“We were left in the dark. We were lied to and, again, literally lied to, at least as far as Indigenous involvement was concerned,” he adds.
He says that the government issued permits enabling PROENERGY to build a road to the site.
“Permits to go in and clear trees before any of this was discussed, to destroy habitat before any of our concerns were addressed,” he says.
Rothfuss points out that neither NB Power nor PROENERGY have used the words “Chignecto Isthmus” in their public communications.
“They won’t define this as a critical, environmentally sensitive zone within not only New Brunswick, but within the country,” he says.
“Not defined by me, but defined by a multitude of professional scientists and environmentalists and governments that have defined the importance of this particular location as being one of the most ecologically sensitive in the country. And yet we ignore that through this whole process.”
Scare tactics
The Sears Sanctuary sign marks the entrance to a 160-acre wilderness property donated to the Atlantic Wildlife Institute by Sackville journalist Wallie Sears and his family. Located just 1.5 km from the proposed Centre Village gas plant site, the sanctuary provides critical habitat for wildlife that could be affected by nearby industrial development. Photo: Bruce Wark
Rothfuss also accuses NB Power of using scare tactics by warning that New Brunswickers will face power blackouts if the Centre Village plant isn’t built by 2028 and then of trying to escape regulatory scrutiny by the Energy and Utilities Board.
When that failed, he says, NB Power warned that PROENERGY would cancel the contract to build the plant if the EUB doesn’t approve it by April 1st.
“Everybody’s running around on their side of the table like Chicken Little saying that this is going to be the end of the world basically with this grid failure,” Rothfuss says “and yet we’ve never had the ability to sit down at the table at the appropriate times to discuss any alternatives to this project.
“We’ve been forced into an answer that we don’t find is in our community’s best interest, in New Brunswick’s best interest, and we’re told that we just have to swallow it and sit back and accept it,” he says, adding that as a publicly owned crown corporation, NB Power should be willing to address public concerns.
“The politics here is not giving us a fair shot to express our concerns and protect our interests,” he says.
NB Power responds
On Thursday, Warktimes e-mailed NB Power a series of questions based on the main points that Barry Rothfuss had raised in a preliminary telephone interview. NB Power responded with these answers (in italics) the next day referring to the proposed gas/diesel plant as the Renewables Integration Grid Security (RIGS) Project:
Question 1(a) The Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition argue the proposed project is an example of “regulatory bypass” because everything from site selection on was done without proper community input. The PCIC says that site selection itself should have been part of an Environmental Impact Assessment process in which the affected community had an opportunity for input. Instead, the site selection process was already complete when NB Power announced the project on July 14.
NB Power’s response: NB Power takes its regulatory obligations seriously and follows the established provincial processes for all major infrastructure projects. Under New Brunswick’s legislation, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) evaluates a proposed project after a preferred site has been identified. This is standard practice for large energy and industrial projects across the province. The purpose of the EIA is to assess environmental impacts, gather public input, and ensure appropriate mitigation measures are in place, not to determine which site should be chosen.
We value openness and transparency, and we understand the importance of involving and engaging the community. We will continue to address concerns and answer questions from community members throughout the EIA process.
1(b) NB Power asked the EUB whether this qualified as a capital project and that delayed the EUB hearing on it and thereby jeopardized the contract with PROENERGY because of the April 1st deadline. The PCIC says this has created a situation where the regulator knows it has a deadline while NB Power continues to argue that unless this project is in operation by 2028, New Brunswickers could face the prospect of a utility that runs out of power with ensuing rolling blackouts. The PCIC says this is an example of creating a crisis atmosphere in order to push the project through without any attempt to gain “social license” for it first.
NB Power followed the required regulatory steps for the Renewables Integration Grid Security (RIGS) Project, including asking the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board (NBEUB) to confirm whether RIGS qualified as a capital project under the Electricity Act. This step was taken to ensure full compliance. The timelines for the NBEUB review were factored into the original project schedule.
The province faces a significant electricity shortfall beginning in 2028, and RIGS is designed to ensure New Brunswickers have the firm capacity required to avoid reliability risks while we add more renewables to our grid. It is important to us at NB Power to be transparent about the energy security challenges the province is facing.
2. The PCIC says that as a Crown Corporation, NB Power has a duty to take the interests of all ratepayers into consideration including community members most affected by the gas plant. They accuse NB Power of practising “bad politics” by placing industrial interests ahead of community interests.
As a Crown corporation, NB Power’s responsibility is to act in the best interests of all New Brunswickers. That means balancing affordability, environmental considerations, and reliability across the entire province, prioritizing all customer groups equally. The RIGS project was proposed because New Brunswick faces a province‑wide electricity shortfall beginning in 2028, and new firm capacity is essential to keep homes and businesses powered.
Our mandate is to ensure safe, reliable electricity for everyone, today and into the future, and to do so through open and accountable regulatory processes and being transparent about our needs and risks.
3. The PCIC says NB Power has not been honest in its claims of Indigenous support for the project.
We are committed to a respectful and transparent relationship with Indigenous communities and recognize the importance of meaningful engagement. As PROENERGY is the proponent for this project, specific questions regarding their Indigenous engagement and support should be directed to them.
4. Finally, the PCIC says NB Power never uses the term “Chignecto Isthmus” and this fudges the issue of environmental effects in an internationally recognized fragile eco-system.
NB Power understands and acknowledges the environmental importance of the Chignecto Isthmus, and the environmental characteristics of the Project will be fully assessed through the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process.
Bruce Wark worked in broadcasting and journalism education for more than 35 years. He was at CBC Radio for nearly 20 years as senior editor of network programs such as The World at Six and World Report. He currently writes for The New Wark Times, where a version of this story first appeared on January 31, 2026.
