Re: “Miner halts Comox Valley coal project,” March 5.
As Compliance Coal moves to the back burner, at least for now, another fire is heating up north of Courtenay.
Hillsborough Resources Ltd. has applied for a licence to begin exploratory drilling in the Oyster watershed, ostensibly for coal, although other minerals or natural gas might turn up.
The history of exploration and mining between Courtenay and Campbell River is not pretty. Thirty years ago, Nuspar Resources found acid run-off in the Oyster watershed too high to permit mining. Acid mine drainage killed the Tsolum River, taking years and millions of taxpayers’ dollars to mitigate, not counting the millions of dollars lost to the economy with loss of salmon.
Despite assurances to the contrary, acid drainage from the Quinsam coal mine has contaminated Long Lake and Middle Quinsam Lake, with elevated levels of arsenic and other heavy metals. In each case, narrow financial interest has taken priority over the broader benefits of a healthy environment.
It doesn’t stop there. Logging of the Oyster watershed continues, to near-destruction of the salmon resource, save for the efforts of a volunteer enhancement society.
The watershed is the source of drinking water for the local Black Creek/Oyster River community, but the headwaters are being logged. This, together with climate change, presents a threat to flow levels in the river. The mining and burning of coal are major contributors to climate change.
If we do not acknowledge and prioritize our essential need for a healthy environment, we will soon find ourselves on the losing side of everything.
A.J. Vaughan
Black Creek
