NANAIMO — The Snuneymuxw First Nation is urging the provincial government and Nanaimo city council to complete a comprehensive feasibility study before acting on the city’s plan to remove the lower and middle Colliery dams.
Chief Douglas White III Kwulasultun of the First Nation, whose traditional territory includes much of east-central Vancouver Island, issued a statement Sunday proposing the following measures with respect to the controversial plan opposed by a group of Nanaimo protesters:
• Lowering of water levels of both dams as needed to mitigate the risk to an acceptable level.
• Undertaking a study from July 15-Aug. 15 of the feasibility of maintaining both dams de-watered over the 2013-14 winter season, and alternatively of maintaining the lower dam de-watered while the middle dam was removed. The commission for the proposed study would go to an independent team of technical experts.
• Developing and implementing a consensus by the parties concerned after the feasibility study has been completed.
Colliery Dam Park surrounds two dams constructed in 1910 by a local coal company to supply water for its mining needs. The dams became a vital drinking water reservoir for most of south Nanaimo, where the area was eventually turned into a park when the collieries shut down.
Nanaimo city council wants to issue a tender for removal of the old dams, which it plans to rebuild. Critics fear that if rebuilding plans aren’t ready before demolition begins, the dams will never be replaced and Nanaimo will lose a popular location for swimming, hiking and picnicking.
The statement issued by the Snuneymuxw Sunday said that during discussions the First Nation has had with provincial officials and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, it has become clear that there is no serious obstacle to taking some time to study alternatives to removing both dams.
The statement says the “following facts have come to light”:
• The City of Nanaimo has never completed a feasibility study of alternate options to dam removal, including de-watering the dams and leaving one or both in place while maintaining the water levels at a suitable risk level throughout the 2013-14 winter season. While city staff have stated such an approach is “impractical,” they have admitted a feasibility study of this option has not been done. City staff refused the First Nation’s request to conduct such a feasibility study.
• The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has confirmed that the so-called construction window of July 15-Sept. 15 is not a fixed deadline, and is generally not enforced. It is a guideline only.
• The province has not ordered that both dams be removed. It has only directed that the risk be reduced to an appropriate level. It has confirmed that de-watering is a possible risk-mitigation measure.
• It is very rare (if ever) that the province approves dams to be built (or rebuilt) for recreational purposes. When asked about the last 10 years, officials of the dam safety branch could not recall one instance of this being permitted.
“Due diligence, responsible decision-making and avoiding deepening the public divisions about the issue all weigh in favour of taking some time to look at all the options,” White says in the statement.
Last week, a B.C. Supreme Court judge rejected a City of Nanaimo injunction application to prevent disruption by protesters of the dam removal.
However, in the decision delivered Friday morning, Justice Douglas Thompson granted the city leave to bring forward another injunction application to B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo within one day’s notice if protesters breach the city’s park bylaw and interfere with the demolition.
