Environmentalists are not the only ones worried about 15,000 cubic metres of potentially acid generating rock currently being dumped into the Howe Sound. At a regular council meeting on Tuesday (June 17), council passed a motion stating that the district is concerned about the dumping and will send a letter to the Ministry of Environment to determine how brownsfield soils from Britannia Beach will be handled in the future.The motion also asks for information on the future use of Jane Basin - the site Squamish Environmental Conservation Society member John Buchanan said should have been the proper dumping place for the contaminated material.The debate has been brewing since late May, when Matcon Excavation and Shoring began unloading material that had piled up from the 1991 Britannia Beach floods to make room for the highway expansion. The notice of motion came from Coun. Corinne Lonsdale, who said the dumping went against the efforts made to help the Howe Sound recover from decades of industrial use."It really is troublesome that to save a few dollars, in my mind, they put at risk all the good work that's been done," she said, adding the Howe Sound is Squamish's playground and backyard. "It may not be within our municipality but I think we do want see it in the best health it can be."Council voted unanimously in favour of the motion with no discussion on the issue. The decision stood in contrast to comments made by the district's environmental co-ordinator Peter Woods a week earlier. In that interview, he defended aspects of the ocean dumping, saying it could be of benefit to the ocean floor."In an area where you don't have a lot of complexity, sometimes dumping at preplanned areas creates habitat complexity in the marine environment," he said. Woods was not available for comment on the district's decision,Council's decision was good news for Buchanan who had been lobbying Lonsdale to consider the issue."If I'm given a chance to talk to anyone about this situation anyone with some common sense can see that they've done something wrong and that was clear last night," he said, noting there was no opposition to the motion. Local government has gradually begun to take environmental issues more seriously, he said.The true test of council's commitment to the health of the Howe Sound will come when dredging is being considered, he said. The soils beneath the Mamquam Blind Channel might be contaminated with methylmercury, Buchanan said, meaning they too would need a safe but costly disposal in a place like Jane Basin."I'm wondering if council's going to put their money where their mouth is and force the dredging protocols," he said.
