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Seymour rock slide blasting begins Drilling, rock breaking at site of 2014’s massive slide BRENT RICHTER brichter@nsnews.com
The Seymour Salmonid Society is moving mountains to save the Seymour River as a habitat for salmon and steelhead – or at least breaking boulders.
Work kicked off this week for the mitigation project to slowly blast away some of the 50,000 cubic metres of granite that slid into the Seymour in December 2014, making its impassible for spawning fish. Behind the gathered dignitaries at a ceremony on the Fisherman’s Trail Wednesday, professional rock climbers were scaling the cliff face above the slide, knocking loose any smaller rocks and boulders. At the toe of the slide, they are using pneumatic drills to drill holes two metres deep into the massive boulders. Using a low-velocity explosive called NX Burst, crews will break apart the rock, leaving them to the mercy of winter storms and spring runoff. “It’s all about making the river passable by fish again. It’s a two- to five-year project. It’s going to take some time but we believe, thanks to the partners we have with us today, that it is doable,” said Shaun Hollingsworth, salmonid society president. “Some of the rocks down here below us are the size of your house. We’re going to make them smaller. We’re going to let Mother Nature, with those… water flows, move the rocks
Professional rock climbers prepare the site of the Seymour River rock slide for blasting to break apart the boulders blocking salmonid migration. The December 2014 slide flooded popular hiking and biking trails, and forced the removal of Twin Bridges. PHOTO CINDY GOODMAN downstream to the deep pools that are situated in the canyon.” According to one Fisheries and Oceans Canada member, the Seymour is the destination for 30 to 50 per cent of the coho salmon that come to Burrard Inlet. In the meantime, volunteers with the society have been physically catching returning salmon and steelhead at a specially made fish fence lower on the Seymour and trucking them up above the slide site.
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ILLEGAL DUMPING
Mystery bags of brown goo plague Blueridge BRENT RICHTER brichter@nsnews.com
Blueridge residents and the District of North Vancouver are trying to solve the mystery of some frankly disgusting bags of brown goo turning up on their streets.
Someone has been tossing them on Berkley Road, Sechelt and Layton Drive, Belloc
Street, Drive and Derbyshire Way. “There’s probably been about 15 or 20 over the last couple weeks and they keep coming,” said area resident Angela Duso. “It’s bizarre.” Even stranger than the bags showing up is what’s inside them. “I’ve gotten as close as I like to the contents, and it’s definitely not dog poop,”
Duso said. “It looks more like a pulp.” Neighbours have speculated the goo might be toxic and deliberately left for crows or coyotes. It looks like the bags have been dropped from a moving car, based on their trajectory, Duso said. She’d like someone to come forward and explain what’s in the bags – and then stop throwing them where
they don’t belong. The district is now looking into the matter, although at first glance, the mystery goo does not appear to be dangerous. “We cannot confirm at all what this strange substance is,” said Richard Boase, environmental protection officer. “There was no odour, no
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