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Soil-dumping site high-risk, unnecessary

Re: “Stop-work order issued at Shawnigan,” May 7. I continue to be confused and astounded when I hear the words espoused by Environment Minister Mary Polak and other previous B.C.

Re: “Stop-work order issued at Shawnigan,” May 7.

I continue to be confused and astounded when I hear the words espoused by Environment Minister Mary Polak and other previous B.C. Liberal government representatives regarding scientific evidence supporting her government’s statements that the risk faced by the Shawnigan Lake community from this permit is acceptable.

As a community member, I sat through every moment of the 31-day environmental appeal board hearing. I witnessed first-hand the testimony of experienced, highly regarded and respected expert scientists as they expressed incredulity, concerns and cautions regarding, in their opinion, the ill-suitedness of this location for this type of high-risk facility, regardless of Active Earth’s proposed facility design. One respected expert witness even said that “it was crazy.”

Why are the Ministry of Environment and the B.C. Liberal government so determined to have what increasingly appears to be an unnecessary, ill-conceived, high-risk contaminated-soil facility sited in this location, regardless of scientific evidence to the contrary?

Which leads me a second question: What is it that we do not know?

Mackenzie Brooks

Shawnigan Lake