Environmentalists say move will damage ocean, cost more moneyLaura [email protected] Sound is doubling as a dumping grounds this month as 15,000 cubic metres of potentially-acid-generating material piled up from 1991 Britannia Beach flooding gets a watery disposal.While government officials say the ocean is the best place for the debris, environmentalists say the decision is simply an easy way out of a more costly land disposal."We still seem to be addicted to ocean dumping to solve our problems," said environmentalist John Buchanan, who has been visiting the Porteau Cove site on a daily basis. He said the material would harm the ocean floor threatening ground fish and plant life among other aspects of the ocean ecosystem."We all see Howe Sound coming back," he said, refering to recent remediation efforts in the wake of industry loss. "For them just to come along and start ocean dumping with no regard to that fact- - it's horrifying to a lot of the groups that have been working on this."The material was hauled from Britannia Creek and stockpiled on Makin Britannia lands under the direction of the Provincial Emergency Program after the 1991 flooding. The pile-up now has to be moved to make room for the highway expansion project. Golder Associates have conducted 49 soil samples on the material. It was found it to be potentially acid generating, which prohibits it from being used as road fill. According to the Ministry of Transportation (MOT), the debris is comprised predominantly of native, inorganic geological material, derived from a creek that flows over a naturally mineralized area.While Jane Basin at the Britannia Mine site is designed to hold contaminated soils including waste rock, the MOT opted instead to load the debris into the ocean."The material being disposed of is naturally occurring river gravel that did not have other contaminants that would make it unsuitable for ocean disposal," said MOT spokesperson Jeff Knight. "The ocean option was an environmentally preferable method because the acid-generating potential is mitigated when placed under water, due to the lack of oxygen."He said taking the material up to Jane Basin would have demanded building a proper road and bridge to handle the heavy equipment, adding that trucking the material would have produced "far more greenhouse gases."Buchanan scoffed at the argument and said the real push for ocean disposal is time and money. Currently, Jane Basin sits under a thick blanket of snow. "Is this a matter of trying to get the highway time schedule on track?" he asked.The ocean disposal also seems to be much less expensive than dumping in Jane Basin.In a letter from Makin Britannia operational manager Tony Mahood to the Environmental Assessment Office in 2003 regarding the highway expansion project, Mahood notes that the materials need to be moved to acocmodate the highway. He describes the debris as "contaminated soil" and said an independent firm estimated the cost of clean up would be $1.5 million to $3 million.The letter suggests the Makin lands can be used for the highway provided the stockpile is taken care of."We wish to cooperate with the province to deal with this delicate issue immediately through partnering and positive discussion," writes Mahood.MOT's approach to the cleanup has cost only a fraction of the estimated price with a contract awarded for $685,000 to Matcon Excavation and Shoring. The company is working six days a week using 11 dump trucks, a large ocean-going self-dumping barge and a smaller barge with an excavator to move the material. Work is expected to finish by the end of June.The project has received approval from Environment Canada. In the future, Buchanan said decisions about such operations should also involve local environmental groups such as the Squamish environmental Conservation Society."People have to start bringing in parties like ours," he said. "Because we could have suggested alternatives."
