A local environmentalist said industry should not be based so close to the sensitive ecosystem of the Squamish Estuary, following the industrial accident that caused thousands of litres of bunker C fuel to escape from the fuel tank of the Westwood Anette container ship.
"I am extraordinarily concerned about having industry adjacent, right in our sensitive habitat," said Edith Tobe of the Squamish Watershed Society. "Why do we allow it? What are we doing to prevent this for the future? I'm just so frustrated. This is a huge concern and it's opening the eyes of what the ramifications are to this type of a situation. Like the CN rail derailment [it is] another case in point. How are we going to deal with all this industry and the long-term impacts they're going to have on our rivers and streams and estuaries?"
Brian Clarke of the BC Ministry of Environment said the question is a matter of economy.
"That's your trade off, you've got to have economy and you've got to have environment," said Clarke. "For a long time Squamish has had both, but when you look at long term, we've made some big improvements because we're about to make the entire estuary there into a wildlife management area. So actually it's side-by-side with industry and it's a lot better than it was."
Squamish Terminals president Ron Anderson said that an accident of this nature is "very concerning" anywhere, whether near an estuary, residential area or coastline.
"Anytime you have an issue like this, it's extremely difficult," he said. "I think the measure is how everybody responds to it. I think the group that came here [oil spill response company Burrard Clean Operations] are extremely professional and extremely responsive and they're doing a terrific job."
Tobe said she hopes residents continue to put pressure on the District of Squamish, the provincial government and the federal government to legislate the protection of sensitive coastline wildlife habitat.
"There's so much the federal government could put into place to help to set legislation up to deal with this kind of situation," said Tobe. "I know the rescue organizations are really frustrated that at the end of the day, unless it's an endangered species, the wildlife in our sensitive habitat zones, doesn't have much legislation protecting them. We need to see heavy-duty legislation on coastal waters across Canada and it just isn't there."
The oil spill also highlighted potential conflict between industry and recreation after hundreds of kiteboarders and windsurfers were turned away from the oil-soaked windsurf spit during the busiest weekend of the year.
"We were pretty much heart broken when it happened," said high profile kiteboarder Jean-Michel Tremblay. "We felt so powerless standing there and watching it happen."
A Squamish kiteboarding website forum had dozens of postings from windsurfers, some expressing concerns about the lack of emergency equipment at the Squamish Terminals port.
"The fact it took [response crews] three hours to reach the terminal is unacceptable," said Tremblay. "Equipment to contain the spill should be on site."
But the damage to Squamish's reputation as Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada is not as dire as it's being made out to be, said Acting Mayor Mike Jenson.
"I don't think it's going to affect the rock climbing, the mountain biking, whitewater rafting, river fishing and hiking," he said. "Yes, it has an impact on the windsurfing and I've asked Burrard Clean and the ministries involved to give that priority to open that up as soon as possible."
Jenson also said he doesn't believe the accident will impact Squamish's the level of interest in booming residential waterfront development.
"I think that spills of this nature, the public sees them as occurring," he said. "It's not Squamish that dumped the oil into the ocean, it was a ship from Norway."
