South Island Aggregates has applied to vary an Environmental Appeal Board ruling so it can accept about 40,000 tonnes of contaminated soil from both Victoria and Port Rupert.
And while Shawnigan Lake residents worry about the potential impact of dumping contaminated soil in the Shawnigan Lake watershed, SIA lawyer John Alexander says the material the company wants to accept does not contain dangerous compounds. The material primarily is classified as “contaminated” because it’s being dredged from the ocean floor, he said.
“That means the soil is contaminated with these very dangerous sodium and chloride ions, also known as sea water,” Alexander said.
“Believe it or not, the provincial [regulations] have limits for sodium and limits for chloride. So, if you have marine sediments, by definition, they are ‘contaminated.’ So unless you’re the type that fears jumping into our ocean, you kind of feel that there’s not a lot of real danger from salt water.”
But Sean Hern, lawyer for the Shawnigan Residents Association, said there’s no reason to alter the stay.
“Our position is that this an issue that has already been decided by the board in its Nov. 15 decision and there is no material change in the circumstance or no new information that would cause the board to revisit that decision and lift the stay at this juncture.”
The residents association has filed a preliminary objection to the SIA application, noting that the exact locations from which the dredged materials are coming have been redacted from the soil assessment documents. They are seeking release of that information.
Alexander said SIA is “very hesitant” to indicate locations or customers they are servicing as they don’t want those customers dragged into the ongoing dispute.
Much to the dismay of both the residents association and Cowichan Valley Regional District, the Ministry of Environment granted a permit to South Island Aggregates in August that allows it to receive up to five million tonnes of contaminated soil over 50 years at its Stebbings Road facility. A stay was ordered last month when the CVRD and the residents association appealed to the Environmental Appeal Board.
SIA applied to vary that order on Dec. 24.
“In the stay, the appeal board said nothing would stop soil coming in that meets industrial land standards. So, the stay did not preclude any contaminated soil from beginning to be deposited,” Alexander said.
“The stay was based on the concerns expressed by the appellants about some of the very, very potentially hazardous compounds like furans and dioxins. The board thought the risk, no matter how small, of those potentially hazardous dangerous chemicals being released perhaps outweighed the inconvenience of waiting a few months.
“The soil in question doesn’t have any of these dioxins or furans,” Alexander said.
But Hern doesn’t believe the material in question is classified as industrial and said the issue already has been considered by the board.
“The board did not say the stay was only effective with regard to high levels of contamination. It said the permit is stayed for all of the soil to which it would apply and that would include this material, otherwise SIA wouldn’t need to have the stay lifted.”
The Environmental Appeal board will hold a hearing on SIA’s permit in Victoria in March. Parties have until Jan. 6 to make written submissions.
