Relief coming for Tsolum River
By Colleen Dane - Comox Valley Record - April 16, 2008 | | | |
Environment Minister Barry Penner (left) counts Tsolum River fish with Mines Minister Kevin Krueger and Comox Valley MLA Stan Hagen.
Colleen Dane
The Tsolum River Restoration Society has, after nearly a quarter century, been given everything it wants and more.
An announcement Monday morning from the Ministry of Environment granted $4.5 million to the river’s restoration partnership group, to remediate an old mine site that’s poisoning the river and nearly decimated fish stocks.
“Wow,” said Jack Minard, Tsolum River society co-ordinator about the amount. “(This is a) culmination of 10 years of work for me,”
Provincial environment minister Barry Penner was in Courtenay, at a private property overlooking the river, to say the funding gave them “a chance to put right something that went terribly wrong.”
“This has been a long-term project and I think we now have ... what the long-term solution will be,” said Penner.
Two years ago SRK Consulting was hired to develop a remediation plan which would stop copper sulphate from leaching into the river. That was 23 years after the alarm was first raised about the dying river when, in 1982, not one of 2.5 million pink fry that were released into the water, returned.
The plan SRK has developed proposes a bituminous liner be put on the contaminated areas, to protect water from the copper leachate. It also includes a one-metre deep glacial till layer on top of that, which will be revegetated to protect material from the elements.
The funding is more than the group had asked for to cover the project, estimated at $4.145 million —
In the past, they’ve tried different ways of improving the water quality in the Tsolum —
Comox Valley MLA Stan Hagen said it was one of his proudest moments as the area’s elected representative.
“I think in my political history, that’s probably the most significant announcement I’ve ever made in my riding,” said Hagen
He acknowledged the work of all the people who’ve remained committed to the Tsolum River cause over the years —
Minister of State for Mines Kevin Krueger was also on hand to praise the work in the river, and assure the public that environmental damage like the aftermath of this mine could never happen now.
“Situations like this are not allowed to develop in present mines and nobody in the industry wants it any different,” said Krueger. “The people of our province scrutinize the mining industry ... and we like that. The people, like this government, have a high expectation.”
New operations require full remediation plans now, and a pre-paid bond that is only returned when the work is done.
Meanwhile, the mine that caused this damage after only a couple years of operations in the late-1960s will finally be given the treatment expected today.
The work to cover the old mine site is expected to begin when the snow melts — in early July at the latest. The three-phase project is expected to take three years to complete.
For more information on the project and to see a full copy of the SRK report, visit www.tsolumriver.org.
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com
http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_north/comoxvalleyrecord/news/17747674.html
Char Olson
I grew up along side the Tsolum River. I often wonder now as I am older what else has been effected by the copper sulphate that has leached into the river. We swam in the river, drank from the river as did our animals. Our wells were fed by springs underground. Our wells were never tested years ago but I do know the last test we did our copper levels were very high. Finally after all these years the Ministry of Environment is going to do something.