Re: “Shawnigan Lake subject to variety of pollution,” letter, March 27.
It is easy to point out what might appear to be long-standing issues that the community appears to have neglected.
However, Shawnigan Lake is a source of drinking water for more than 8,000 residents. Studies in the past 40 years have indicated some minor concerns about the water quality (some of them because of fecal count from local wildlife, such as bears), but in general, the water quality remains in good shape.
Roads are an established function in every community (even Ladysmith). Because Shawnigan Lake is an unincorporated area, the Transportation Ministry has control of all roads and drainage.
There is no need to install a “safe drinking water system.” We already have it.
The Ministry of Environment should be protecting the source of drinking (and recreational) water, not allowing industry to poison it.
Does the letter-writer understand that the ministry agrees that the protective liner will eventually fail? The contaminants will be there forever, waiting to leach into the aquifer and surrounding area, maybe not in my lifetime, but for future generations.
If the same situation were happening in the Ladysmith drinking watershed area, would the letter-writer be so cavalier in his comments?
Grant Treloar
Shawnigan Lake
