The need to deal with an abundance of snow in downtown Halifax has revealed an apparent double standard when it comes to dumping snow in Halifax Harbour.

While the municipality has a firm policy against it, citing environmental concerns, CTV News has learned that both the Halifax Port Authority and the Waterfront Development Corporation are dumping truckloads of snow into the harbour.

In fact, for the port authority, it’s a basic part of their snow-clearing plan.

“Our procedure involves the placement of snow in piles where it’s strategic and out of the way, and then when it’s safe to do so, at the appropriate time, it’s moved into the harbour,” said Lane Farguson, spokesman for the Halifax Port Authority.

Farguson said the port authority is unaware of any regulations that prevent dumping snow into the harbour.

Although Farguson describes the snow as “clean,” the pier areas are used by trucks and trains.

“Eventually that snow is going to melt and eventually that’s going to find its way into storm drains and find its way into the harbour anyway,” he said.

For the Waterfront Development Corporation, dumping snow into the harbour arose out of a special need after this winter’s recent walloping, according to the corporation’s president, Colin MacLean.

“We don’t know if there’s a rule against doing it,” MacLean said.

“It’s something we don’t do as a standard practice. It’s kind of an extraordinary situation we got faced with.”

If there’s a rule, the corporation will abide by it, MacLean said, adding that, in future, it could mean closing the parking lots and boardwalk until they’re clear of snow.

“The other thing we can do is spend some money and get some dump trucks to come in and get it taken to the correct location,” he said.

The City of Halifax, meanwhile, has a firm policy against the practice.

The municipality doesn’t want to add more contaminants to the harbour it seeks to clean, said city spokeswoman Tiffany Chase.

“We collect snow along the streets and sidewalks of the city and it does pick up things like salt and sand and other substances,” she said.

Robin Tress of the Halifax-based Ecology Action Centre said, although the centre doesn’t have their own formal policy on the practice, they would like to see Halifax adopt one like those of Montreal and Winnipeg.

Tress said the centre would like “to see some sort of designated dumping area that was equipped with groundwater filtration systems and stormwater management.”

Though the city does have snow-dumping areas, stormwater is diverted directly into the harbour, according to the Halifax Water Commission.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Rick Grant