Nineteen months after a CN train derailment dumped 41,000 litres of caustic soda into the Cheakamus River, the railway is offering $400,000 a year over five years to environmentalists and businesses dealing with the aftermath.
The Cheakamus Ecosystem Recovery Fund's application form stated it will pay for projects "deemed to be beneficial to recovery of affected species or showing other strong attributes".
But some stakeholders said the $2 million raised to aid recovery of the river and its tributaries should not be administered by CN Environment - which is to have final approval in who receives funds. Other members of the Cheakamus Ecosystem Restoration Technical Committee (CERTC) will also play a role, including the District of Squamish, Squamish Nation, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the B.C. Ministry of the Environment.
Stakeholders are also concerned that it could prove divisive in the region as different local groups compete for the same funds.
Instead, they want CN to establish a "Community Legacy Fund" of $1.5 million a year for 25 years, or $37.5 million, in order to build a foundation to fund the ecosystem's recovery over the longer term.
The spill killed an estimated 500,000 salmon, steelhead and other wildlife along an 18-km stretch of the Cheakamus.
Two dozen stakeholders, made up of local company owners, environmentalists and other bodies, met CN officials at the Howe Sound Inn in Squamish on Wednesday night to discuss this and other proposals. It was the first time the two sides had since last July.
"The difference in this meeting is that we have CN rail present," said Edith Tobe, project manager of the Squamish River Watershed Society. She said she was "delighted" to have CN there, but added "they are dismissing us at every turn."
Tobe said the stakeholders first saw the recovery fund offer on Monday, two days before the two sides met. She added that the stakeholders passed a motion in December to request the reparation 25-year settlement. The letter outlining the request had been sent to the railway in the first week in January and Wednesday's meeting was the first opportunity to get a response.
"This is [an amount] that we feel is very appropriate for the damage that has been done to the system," said Tobe. " [CN] have put together this fund for $400,000. I'm going to do a whole bunch of applications. I can easily reach $2 million in the applications I'll be putting in right away."
CN's spokeswoman Kelli Svensen, described the stakeholder team as an "advisory group". She said she could not go into the details behind the Cheakamus Ecosystem Recovery Fund proposal as it was "still in draft format, and the specific details are being discussed within CN and the Stakeholder Team."
The meeting tone was intensified when it was discovered that the response to the motion had not been added to the evening's agenda.
Normand Pellerin of CN Environment told those present at the meeting: "The motion identifies the request for funds without any other explanation as to where that money would be going.... There is so much unknown and we do not believe that it is necessary to put that kind of money aside. We believe that the expenses we are going through is going to achieve that same level of activity."
In response, Tobe, who brought forward the original motion said there were several local foundations in place that could administer any funds, adding that "there is definitely a lot of know-how at this table with how to set up a structure... You may be shaking your head there, but we have a very strong legacy that has been completely obliterated the CN derailment."
"The Recovery Fund proposal is intended to augment the continuing recovery efforts within the overall scientific parameters that are guiding the program," said Svensen in an e-mailed response to questions. "[The fund] proposal has no relationship or bearing to any claims process. Rather, its specific objective is to assist in the recovery efforts.
"Some members of the Stakeholder Team were requesting an open-ended donation from CN to fund unspecified projects. CN informed the Stakeholder Team that all funding programs are evaluated on their individual merits and must be specifically defined."
Now that CN has established in-person contact once more with the Stakeholders, Tobe said she was willing to look into their fund plan "with an open mind".
"If they respond well and favourably to the applications that myself and others are putting in and get the money flowing, I'll feel a lot less concerned about the $1.5 million [per year]," she said. "But I'm willing to bet that given the number of applications that are expected to go in, few of us will be getting approval."
