Environmental concerns around the controversial contaminated soil dump at Shawnigan Lake are being raised again.
Four prominent politicians from two senior levels of government joined concerned community members at the gates of South Island Resource Management, the site of the soil dump, on Thursday morning to express their concerns regarding safety and compliance of the operation.
The four politicians are Alistair MacGregor, MP for Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, Bill Routley, MLA for the Cowichan Valley, Doug Routley, MLA for Nanaimo-North Cowichan and Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Head.
Laura Colpitts, a member of the Shawnigan Water Community Action Group said that “alarming activities” have been documented at the site over the last several weeks by local citizens.
She said the “soil-management area” appears to have a structural flaw, and is bulging out on one side.
Colpitts said it looks like liquid is leaking out of the bulging area and leaving a black trail leading directly toward Shawnigan Creek.
She also said the operators have been pouring liquid directly into the soil cell, then spreading the wet sludge on top of the mountain of contaminated soil, which is a violation of the Ministry of Environment’s permit.
“Why does this company continue to contravene the conditions of its permit, and why does the province not monitor and enforce their own regulations?” Colpitts asked.
In a statement, South Island Resource Management said that throughout its operations at the site, the company regularly communicates with the ministry and the ministry is aware of any operational issues as they may occur.
“These issues have been found to pose no significant threat to the environment,” the statement said.
“It’s important to note that the issues raised were identified through our vigilant and transparent reporting procedures. We are working to resolve the issues within the prescribed framework.”
But Bill Routley said residents have a right to be concerned about their water after two recent reports indicate that the Liberal government is failing to put the public’s interests first in similar cases.
“The Information and Privacy Commissioner’s report showed that the Christy Clark government was needlessly withholding government documents about the safety of water in Spallumcheen, while the Auditor-General’s report found major gaps in the government’s monitoring of industrial sites and enforcement of environmental laws,” he said.
Doug Routley said the NDP has raised questions and concerns about the soil-dumping site on Shawnigan Lake more than a dozen times in the legislature, and will continue to fight for the community to have safe drinking water.
“The government has proven that they simply can’t be trusted to protect the interests of communities and the environment,” he said.
“They imposed a contaminated soil dump on the community, despite serious concerns about threats to the local drinking-water supply. It’s wrong and it shouldn’t be allowed to continue.
MacGregor said he tabled a bill in Parliament in March that would add Shawnigan Lake to the scheduled list of bodies of water that fall under the protection of the Navigation Protection Act.
“It’s unconscionable that we are not protecting marine wildlife, drinking water and watersheds from environmental degradation,” he said.
“This bill is a first step in a larger battle against contamination of our water resources.”
