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Shawnigan residents ready to appeal contaminated-soil permit if approved

The Shawnigan Residents Association is preparing to do battle when it comes to a provincial permit that would let a Malahat quarry treat massive amounts of contaminated soil, something it says puts the Shawnigan Lake watershed at risk.
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Peter Hyslop was among the protesters who marched outside the Environment Ministry offices in Victoria in April. The demonstration was against a proposed contaminated soil dump at Shawnigan Lake.

The Shawnigan Residents Association is preparing to do battle when it comes to a provincial permit that would let a Malahat quarry treat massive amounts of contaminated soil, something it says puts the Shawnigan Lake watershed at risk.

The association, which has already collected 4,000 signatures protesting any such permit for South Island Aggregates, has put up the money to hire top litigation firm Farris LLP to appeal if the permit goes ahead. And the law firm is in discussions to bring the University of Victoria Environmental Law Clinic onside. “The worrisome part for us is that the will of big business is going to trump the well-being and quality of life of the community. The fact that it’s 2013 and we have to put up our own money to protect our water — is absolutely mindblowing,” said Jason Walker, a director of the association.

Meanwhile, the B.C. Ministry of the Environment is still working through more than 300 public submissions protesting a discharge permit for South Island Aggregates. Its decision is not expected for another few weeks, a ministry official said Monday.

South Island Aggregates proposes to treat up to 100,000 tonnes of contaminated soil every year for the next 50 years — a total of five million tonnes.

The company did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

If the permit goes ahead, the residents’ association and Cowichan Valley Regional District have only 30 days to appeal to the Environmental Appeal Board, said Walker.

Whether the UVic law centre gets involved will not be known until September, said Farris associate Sean Hern.

Bruce Fraser, the CVRD director for Shawnigan, has already told the ministry the permit should not be issued in August, when many residents are away on holiday.

The ministry is showing a “stunning” lack of sensitivity as to how compromised the watershed area already is, he said in an e-mail to the Times Colonist. “We have enough work to do to deal with private-land industrial logging, abandoned and active gravel pits, rampant backcountry access, aging septic fields, climate volatility, and illegal dumping of contaminated soils without having a new source of pollution risk added deliberately by our provincial government.”

It’s an “abject cop-out” that the cabinet is delegating the decision to a bureaucrat, Fraser said.

In a letter to the CVRD on July 10, Hubert Bunce of the regional Environmental Protection Division office said the landfill project was designed so effluent flows meet or exceed “the most stringent standard” for protecting aquatic life and drinking water.

Low risk isn’t enough for opponents. “Zero risk can easily be achieved by not issuing the permit for a site in an already burdened community watershed,” Fraser said via email. “After all, the application is one of financial convenience self-promoted by a commercial quarry owner, not a site chosen according to public-safety criteria.”

Sites for contaminated soil are necessary and the CVRD has offered to work with the ministry to find a proper site within the district that would not compromise a community watershed, Fraser said. “That offer has been met by resounding silence from government.”

In his letter to the CVRD, Bunce said the Environment Ministry is in communication with Vancouver Island Health Authority officials regarding a possible further health-risk assessment in relation to the application. “Our ultimate objective is to ensure that the activities do not impair the environment or impact human health.”

If the permit is issued, the CVRD plans to bring a resolution in opposition to the Union of B.C. Municipalities in September.

kdedyna@timescolonist.com