Going backwards on the Cowichan. Example of stupid Governments.

One thing Horgan can't control. Same old guard that will outlast every government.

Nothing had changed there great to see.
 
So basically, a world class critical habitat salmon, trout and shellfish supporting river estuary, is about to be further damaged by toxic metal poisoning. Some politicians will benefit from the political trade offs while a few will get jobs and even fewer will make big bucks in the short term and never be subject to paying for the cost of the toxic clean up and fish restoration down the road, which may cost millions in tax dollars and be minimally effective.
 
Last edited:
Wow, this makes me ill. Hoping wiser heads will prevail here and decline the application. This property would be a good candidate for the Land Conservancy to acquire and protect.
 
One only has to look at the millions of dollars that government/the tax payer is having to pay to clean up toxic soil and rehabilitate former ocean front industrial properties in the Victoria area and on local military property so they can be redeveloped, to see where it is possible this could end up. Perhaps it would be cheaper in the long run to have the govt. throw the land owner/developer a bone with some healthy funding to the Land Conservancy (as searun suggests) to purchase the land above market value and protect it from future development of this nature. It could even possibly be resold with a restrictive covenant as to its future use which would greatly reduce the cost of protecting it.
 
Last edited:
One only has to look at the millions of dollars that government/the tax payer is having to pay to clean up toxic soil and rehabilitate former ocean front industrial properties in the Victoria area and on local military property so they can be redeveloped, to see where it is possible this could end up. Perhaps it would be cheaper in the long run to have the govt. throw the land owner/developer a bone with some healthy funding to the Land Conservancy (as searun suggests) to purchase the land above market value and protect it from future development of this nature. It could even possibly be resold with a restrictive covenant as to its future use which would greatly reduce the cost of protecting it.

Yep and one needs to look at that smart idea. Where do you thing that soil for that project went? Yep got dumped right next to another salmon enhancement project and shawnigan lake community water supply.

And when that soil moves from top of Shawnigan and it will the taxpayer in Vic is going to pay three times over. Victoria needs to deal with it's own garbage and stop dumping them up island.
 
Yep and one needs to look at that smart idea. Where do you thing that soil for that project went? Yep got dumped right next to another salmon enhancement project and shawnigan lake community water supply.

And when that soil moves from top of Shawnigan and it will the taxpayer in Vic is going to pay three times over. Victoria needs to deal with it's own garbage and stop dumping them up island.
,
Certainly a valid point and I do empathize, it was completely unfair. If it is ever moved again it will cost all taxpayers not just Victoria. Once you create toxic soil and dig it up, it has to go some place. The disposal becomes a political and financial problem and those with less political power, as in less population with less votes, as well as less politically influential financial elites, pay the environmental cost. No one ever said politics was fair but I understand you were able to have it stopped. No small victory given the political power aligned against you.

The best and cheapest solution where possible, is to learn from the past and not create toxic soil in sensitive locations close to critical waterways that will eventually have to be moved, which is the subject of discussion, - the Cowichan River Estuary. The real question is are those few jobs worth the risk of toxic metal contamination.
 
Last edited:
,
Certainly a valid point and I do empathize, it was completely unfair. If it is ever moved again it will cost all taxpayers not just Victoria. Once you create toxic soil and dig it up, it has to go some place. The disposal becomes a political and financial problem and those with less political power, as in less population with less votes, as well as less politically influential financial elites, pay the environmental cost. No one ever said politics was fair but I understand you were able to have it stopped. No small victory given the political power aligned against you.

The best and cheapest solution where possible, is to learn from the past and not create toxic soil in sensitive locations close to critical waterways that will eventually have to be moved, which is the subject of discussion, - the Cowichan River Estuary. The real question is are those few jobs worth the risk of toxic metal contamination.

Yeah it really isn't stopped so too speak. The soil from the dredging of DND and many cleanups in Victoria and Vancouver are there. Last I heard the government was considering allowing more to be trucked in. There is also an active court case of owners of site suing government for damages. I expect they will get it.

The reason bringing it up is when are these projects going to be put in properly? In case of Cowichan it is unwise to proceed with this. The area made tremendous gains in cleaning that area up. I question the monitoring by MoE. Not it going on but how it will be monitored and enforced.
 
These lands were among the most contaminated in Canada. It cost close to $140 million in public money and took a dozen years to clean. About 290,000 tonnes of contaminated sediment was hauled from the area.

That is right 290,000 tons right into the Shawnigan watershed, and right next to a salmon bearing creek with a critical project that supports the coho brood for Goldstream, and Shawnigan Creek. Who Knew? And that soil is still sitting there!


 
Reminds me of when they cleaned up false Creek area for Expo and development afterwards. They trucked all the soil up to Princeton and dropped it on a site by the mine. A company called Envirogreen had an incinerator there. So i used to test the emissions from the plant, the first trip up there as we are setting up our equipment i smell ****, i'm thinking WTF. I ask the operator what gives he laughs and says see that pile of black gold on the other side of the fence, it is all the solids from Vancouver's sewer treatment. After they burned the contaminated soil it was useless nothing left but sterile product, so they would mix the 2 together and spread it on the mine site, the parts they spread it was green as could be, so there ya have it......
 
I feel the same way you guys do about our inner Vancouver Harbour and yet some of you on here have no problem with tankers full of raw bitumen slogging through first and second Narrows inVancouver on a daily basis waiting for the inevitable disaster. We have finally reached a point where a few herring are starting to spawn in our foreshore again I don't see the difference. I guess as long as its not in your back yard its ok. Quite a few rivers draining directly into that inner harbour as well. We had a small spill off a freighter two years ago no one was ever held accountable and the city taxpayers were left to pay the cleanup bill.
 
Back
Top