BC Wildlife Fed sets up recovery/ defence fund, open house draws criticism for CN
Steven Hill
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A public open house promising to give the community answers about last August's toxic chemical spill into the Cheakamus River this week was upstaged by a leaked government report stating that the river will take more than a generation to recover and a statement from the B.C. Wildlife Federation that cleanup efforts would cost more than $20 million.
More than 100 people showed up at the Squamish Adventure Centre Wednesday (Feb. 8) for a four-hour open house put on by the Cheakamus Ecosystem Restoration Steering Committee (CERSC) and the Cheakamus Ecosystem Restoration Technical Committee (CERTC).
Both committees are made up of representatives from CN, the District of Squamish (DOS), Ministry of Environment (MoE), Squamish Nation, Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the province.
The open house featured a timeline of the CN Rail spill, which killed most of the fish in the Cheakamus River in August 2005, along with placards depicting the next steps in the recovery process.
But controversy dogged the event even before it got underway.
On Tuesday (Feb. 7), the Vancouver Sun released information from draft reports, saying the recovery of the Cheakamus River system could take as long as 50 years to complete.
The article also quoted Edith Tobe of the Squamish River Watershed Society, who said her group had been "fired" two weeks ago as organizer of the open house, due to failing to meet the committee's expectation of "unbiased, objective communications.""We are not involved anymore," Tobe told The Chief. "The short of it is, in November our society was invited to participate with the Cheakamus Ecosystem Recovery Technical Committee to develop a communications plan.
"In January that was all solidified, I met with the committee on Jan. 10 and was given a nod that everything was a go for the Feb. 8 open house," she said. "I started sending out emails and getting the word out, and then went away for the week. When I came back I had an email from CN Rail."
The email from CN officials said that due to "continuing unresolved issues" CN was "immediately discontinuing the agreement between Edith Tobe and CN".
"CN made a unilateral decision, which was not vetted through the committee," said Tobe. "When I talked to the committee members no one knew about it, and I have yet to hear anything in person from them."
Tobe said the decision did not bode well for community involvement in the recovery process.
"It means CN doesn't have a lot of respect for our community," she said. "We were there not to direct anything, but to facilitate a process. We want to achieve what is best for the river at the end of the day, and work with the parties.
"The Watershed Society is not political. We don't set direction, we work with groups," she said, adding. "The Ministry of Environment is dragging its feet and playing into CN."
CN spokesperson Graham Dallas said the Watershed Society's dismissal was not personal.
"At one point the Squamish River Watershed Society was asked to help organize this meeting, but we decided because of the large number of people we expected here, and a lot of the logistics, that we would use a professional meeting organizer," Dallas said. "It is certainly nothing personal."
He said CN and CERTC were very interested in what the community had to say.
"One of the interesting things being done tonight, is at the instigation of the committee, we are asking interested individuals and companies with an interest in the Cheakamus recovery to become part of a stakeholder seat," he said. "The committee feels there is a lot of experience and knowledge within the community and they want to tap into anyone who has a passionate interest in the recovery of the river. The first meeting we think will take place in March, depending on how long it takes to get the process underway."
Dallas said the conclusions of the leaked draft report on fish impacts was undergoing revisions, and its current conclusions were not official.
"Revisions are being made on that draft report and it will then be made available to the public," he said.
Greg Wilson, Ministry of Environment fish biologist and CERTC member helped to co-author the draft fish impact report. He said the report shouldn't have been made public yet, and that it did not address a timeline for the recovery of the Cheakamus.
"There are two draft reports out there, but neither of them is supposed to be out there yet," he said. "There is the report on fish impacts from the spill, which I co-authored, and another from BC Hydro/Habitat Trust Fund, which tries to infer information from our impact assessment about how long the recovery will be. It suggests between 11 to 50 years."
Wilson said another draft of the report would be finalized in two weeks, after which it would go for review again, before being given to the public.
But for many in the community, everything about the recovery is taking too long.
"It is a start," said Dave Brown, from the Squamish Chapter of South Coast Steelhead Coalition. "I have a lot of reservations that here we are six months after the spill and the time for action is now.
"We drafted a letter in December from the local Sportfishing Advisory Committee, of which I am the vice-chair, requesting they look at Steelhead enhancement. This was supported by the mayors of both Whistler and Squamish, as well as First Nations," he said, noting that steelhead were the most affected by the spill. "The clock is ticking."
Brown said action was needed now, not more meetings.
"I think 50 years is a good estimate if action isn't taken," he said. "What message are we sending to the world when in 2010 the people driving up to visit Whistler ask 'What is in that river?' and we have to tell them we used to have trout and five species of salmon, but now we have a river that's dead. I think it would be an embarrassment for me as a Canadian and a British Columbian."
The BC Wildlife Federation agrees with Brown, and announced Wednesday the creation of a Cheakamus Communities Recovery and Legal Defence Fund.
"Numerous habitat repairs need to be done and there is a desperate need for an immediate Cheakamus River fish restocking program," said BCWF president Dave White. "The Cheakamus ecosystem is totally wrecked and, if nothing is done, we will present a barren river to millions visiting British Columbia for the 2010 Olympics.
"The cost of the repairs that need to be done is perhaps more than $20 million, but CNR has only coughed up $1.25 million so far," said BCWF executive director Tony Toth about a recent announcement that CN gave a five year funding agreement to Pacific Salmon Foundation for Squamish River Watershed Salmon Recovery Plan. "We hope the Ministry of Environment can impose a large fine on CNR, in the order of $2 or $3 million, but that won't be enough."
Toth said the Cheakamus Communities Recovery and Legal Defence Fund is meant to help local people fight for compensation, to finance interventions with CN, and to co-ordinate habitat reclamation projects.
More information on the fund can be found at www.bcwf.bc.ca.
