Opinions August 2004

Best Citizen’s Plea for Action:

Save the Coquitlam River

 

Mike Wiskar

OP Contributor

Local gravel-mining companies have been dump- Mayor Kingsbury’s Response

ing their waste into our Coquitlam River for Thank you for your email outlining your concerns regarding

decades. This has left the river in a sorry state of sediments generated by gravel pit operations. As you may be

affairs. The river is now endangered. In fact, the aware, in October 1999, Council established a Coquitlam River

outdoor recreation council of British Columbia Aggregate Task Force (CRATF) to recommend what could be

has placed the Coquitlam River in the number done, by all levels of government, the aggregate mining indus-

eight spot on their list of the top-ten endangered try and other stakeholders to remedy the impacts of aggregate

rivers in British Columbia. mining and to improve the health of the Coquitlam River. The
The problem lies within gravel washing task force included representatives from the gravel pit opera-

processes, which leave behind very fine sands tions, the cities of Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam, Ministry of

such as silt. These “fines” have no real purpose
and exist as leftover waste. Common sense would §
tell us that if these fines cannot be recycled in
some way or another, then they must be disposed [ij
of in the most environmentally friendly way pos-
sible. Unfortunately, gravel companies operating
in Coquitlam reject the notion of common sense
altogether, and choose to dump their environ-
mentally destructive fines into the Coquitlam
River.

Polluting is good for business. However, at the
same time, it wreaks havoc on the rivet’s delicate
ecosystem—killing all forms of life, from fish to
insects. Gravel companies would have to

Energy and Mines, Ministry of Water Land and Air
Protection, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), BC Hydro
and the Coquitlam River Watershed Society. The CRATF pro-
duced an action plan in November 2001 and implementation
of this plan is well underway. Recent initiatives undertaken by
Coquitlam include:

* commissioning a consultant study to determine the feasibil-
ity of municipal uses of fines;

* approaching the Master Municipal Construction
Documents (MMCD) committee with recommendations for
including the use of gravel fines in concrete specifications;

* requesting funding from the province for further research
studies needed to identify alternative uses for fines;

* seeking opportunities with other agencies to monitor and
control naturally occurring slides in Falacea and Orr Creeks;
and

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
  

spend extra money to invest in technolo-
gies to dispose of their fines in environ-
mentally friendly ways. When it comes * installing two sediment monitoring stations in the

Coquitlam River—one directly above and one direct-
ly below the gravel pit operations.

While progress has been made, efforts to imple-
ment the CRATF action plan are continuous and
ongoing.

I would like to stress that we recognize the vital
importance of the Coquitlam River within our commu-
nity and the region. The river provides a multitude of
benefits including critical habitat for fish and wildlife; and
recreational, cultural and historical significance for local
residents and First Nations. The Coquitlam River Reservoir
provides one of the cleanest drinking water sources in the
Lower Mainland. It also generates hydroelectric energy, and
provides downstream flood control benefits. As well, the City
of Coquitlam played an active role in the development of the
recently completed BC Hydro Coquitlam-Buntzen Water Use
Plan that balances fish habitat, power generation, flood protec-
tion and other factors in generating suitable operating regimes
for the water control facilities.

down to it, it’s much cheaper to just
dump them into the river.

Mayor Jon Kingsbury and a majority
of city council have either condoned
or chosen to ignore the gravel opera-
tor’s environmentally harmful behav-
ior by continuously renewing soil
removal permits at the expense of
the Coquitlam River and the commu-
nity. Over the past month and a half, an abun-
dance of letters has been sent to Mayor
Kingsbury. Citizens of Coquitlam, as well as oth-
ers from around the Lower Mainland, have been
stating their concerns about the pollution prob-
lem and have called on the Mayor to encourage
these companies to dispose of their waste in
more environmentally friendly ways. The follow-
ing letters are the Mayor’s response to our Take
Action letter, and our response to him.

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