Want a better watershed? Just get CN Rail to dump a tanker load of Caustic Soda in your river!
That is the message Global TV news hour sent out last Friday (Sept. 10).
A watershed is a complex system of organisms that dance an equally complex ecological dance with each other. Damage one species, and it has an inevitable effect on the others in the watershed community.
The Cheakamus River Caustic spill of 2005 killed off the fish that were in the river at the time, but many billions of other life forms also live in the river.
Not as sexy as salmon but equally important to a healthy watershed. They include aquatic insects, lampreys, amphibians and Squamish sturgeon, to name a few.
There would also be an effect on the bird populations, reptiles and wildlife. Also, when there is a massive kill-off in the watershed, there will be species that benefit from this and their populations would then increase out of balance.
It does appear that the salmon is heading in the right direction for the moment (thanks in great part to the Tenderfoot Hatchery), but they wouldn't even know the full longterm effects of the spill, so how can anyone state that things have recovered in five short years?
So where were the interviews with the accredited biologists, the volunteers who do the groundwork, local government's opinion, environmental groups and, most important of all, the opinion of DFO?
It appeared like a staged news release by MOE and CN Rail to get it off their books.
Global TV could have saved themselves money on this one by handing the camera over to [B.C. Environment Minister] Mr. [Barry] Penner with the microphone in CN's hand.
John Buchanan
Squamish
