Envisioning a Green Future on            the Burin Peninsula

The Burin Peninsula Environmental Reform Committee Inc. (BPERC) fills the need for an official committee to work together with businesses, government, citizens and other stakeholder groups to focus on changes toward environmental sustainability through environmental education and action.

The Burin Peninsula is on the Cutting Edge of Environmental Change in the Province

The peninsula was originally named by Basque fishermen in the 16th century. Up until recently, the economy was dependent upon the fishing industry, but a new period has arrived, a time of moratoriums, regulations, controls and increasingly strained land and water resources.

In response, the peninsula shifts toward a sustainable economy as the town of St. Lawrence erects the first wind farm in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

In 2006, the peninsula town of Marystown installed a leading wetland waste water treatment system, the first of its kind in the province. It treats waste water without chemicals or electricity and operates with very little cost.

The research and development by Dr. Michael Graham and his team constructed a wave-powered seawater pump that could be used to generate electricity in Lord's Cove.  Remarkably, systems of this type are only recently being developed, and only by a handful of scientists around the world.