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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Estuary dredging raises eco-ire Concern about habitat: Authorized work to clear channels near WFP sawmill draws public protest Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
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courtesy Peter Spohn
Grandfather Heron (environmentalist Peter Spohn) poses in the Cowichan estuary marsh in front of dredging machines that are raising concerns among some locals.
ediment dredging for safe, log-channel access to the Western Forest Products Cowichan Bay sawmill should end by Friday, a WFP spokesman says. That legally permitted work is expected to continue despite today’s 10 a.m. dredging protest at WFP’s Cowichan Bay Road gates. Protest organizers say the current dredging volume far outweighs some 2,000 cubic metres of sediment dug from the sawmill’s log-haul area in 2009. They think it could hurt sea life and they fear the dredgate may hold chemicals that will run back into the sensitive bay. “What they’ve taken out this time is unmatched,” said Geotz Schuerholz, longtime bay resident and chairman of the Cowichan Estuary Restoration and Conservation Association. “It’s affecting fish habitat. Our concern is also heavy metals. They’re dredging 17 feet down, putting it on the mill site.” Schuerholz argued the dredging got a governmental green light with little or no public knowledge or input — nor an environmental assessment of effects on flora nad fauna. “WFP’s in breach of the contractual agreement with the Cowichan Bay Estuary Environmental Management Committee,” he said, noting B.C.’s environment ministry is supposed to be the permitting body. more on A6
Long saga ends as derelict Dominion finally pulls anchor and departs Cow Bay Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
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he Dominion has finally left Cowichan Bay. Bay Director Lori Iannidinardo was cautiously happy the fuel-filled, derelict ship — lashed by the Coast Guard to a dock at Western Stevedoring — was hauled out Saturday morning. It was likely bound for scrapping elsewhere, she said, after years of locals chasing prospective owners, and government departments powerless to order the rusting merchant vessel sold or seized. “It took an easy five years — it’s still very
frustrating these things have to take so long,” she said. “I was walking the beach this morning, and the Dominion’s definitely gone; people in the village watched it go, and said it was (hauled by) a Mexican tug.” That would fit plans by a prospective American buyer about two years ago. He aimed to buy Dominion, then have her and another vessel towed for scrapping in Mexico. But eco-conscious Iannidinardo was worried about Dominion’s downstream effects. “I’m very glad it’s gone from our backyard, but whose backyard is it going into, environmentally? I’m hoping this is done appropriately.”
lation to stop dumping of derelict vessels along all Canadian shores. But Crowder’s bill’s been parked in Parliament for more than a year. “I’m still not up for debate. I’m probably a couple of months out before my name gets called.” Still she said it’ll take “multi levels” of government to demand and land derelict-boat laws. Crowder called the five years Dominion sat in Andrew Leong Cowichan Bay “ridiculous. It’s about bloody Derelict vessel Dominion has finally been hauled from Co- time it was was gone.” wichan Bay “This is a problem that’ll only get worse with aging vessels on our coats.” So was Cowichan MP Jean Crowder. She’s more on A6 tabled a private-member’s bill concerning legis-
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