It's been a long, hard struggle, and it's far from over … but efforts to restore BC's top oyster producing area to health are finally starting to pay off.
by J. Cates
The Rave is passe. The Septic Social is way cooler, at least in the Baynes Sound area of the British Columbia coast.
Septic Socials, at which the main activity is the inspection of neighbourhood septic systems, are just one part of a multifaceted program to clean up the waters of Baynes Sound.
This area, between Denman Island and Vancouver Island, is perhaps the richest shellfish-producing area in BC waters, but over the last few years, harvesting has often been closed due to water pollution, costing the growers money and placing the entire industry in jeopardy.
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A variety of sources has been contributing to pollution in Baynes Sound, but conditions started to show improvement about two years ago. |
A crisis point was reached in 1994 with the closure of 23% of the shellfish harvesting area, due to the bacterial contamination associated with fecal waste. Since then, the frequent closures have caused an estimated $1 million drop in the local economy.
The result has been the creation of the Baynes Sound Stewardship Action Group (a subcommittee of the Baynes Sound Round Table), which counts among its members Environment Canada, Department of Fisheries, BC Shellfish Growers Association, Project Watershed, local government, and others. The stewardship program for the sound is, of necessity, multifaceted because there is no single source of pollution that can be corrected. The waters are under attack from diverse directions.
Septic Socials were part of a Septic System Education program between 1996-1999, conducted by the Comox Valley Citizen Action on Recycling and the Environment, and Project Watershed. In addition to public education, 87 septic systems were inspected and/or pumped.
Even more recently, the emphasis has been on pollution from seagoing sources. The installation of pump-out facilities for boaters in Comox Harbour is planned for this summer, and pump-out facilities have been installed at Deep Bay. In addition, a Baynes Sound Boating Guide is providing information on safe boating practices to the local boating community.
A variety of programs have been, and in some cases still are, combined under the Baynes Sound Stewardship Initiative in 1996. In addition to septic surveys and boating pump-outs, the Initiative surveyed the use and disposal of toxics by local businesses, and promoted discounts in advertising rates for "green" businesses.
And in 1997 and 1998, an Agricultural program gave information and aid to rural property owners, with a focus on stream side fencing, revegetation, and manure management. As a result, almost 5,800 metres of new fencing have been placed to restrict the access of livestock to streams, more than 5,000 trees and shrubs were planted in riparian areas, and many manure covers were given to hobby farmers.
For a period of several years, beginning in 1995, volunteers from the Canadian Coast Guard tested the waters and took samples from six areas of Comox Harbour, and over a similar time period, from 1996 to 2000, volunteers monitored the storm drains in urban areas for fecal coliform, pH, temperature, oil, and other pollutants. As a result, municipalities in the area repaired 84 sewage and stormwater connections to keep untreated waste out of Baynes Sound. Those outfalls have since been monitored again to make sure the repairs were effective.
The most recent item in the Initiative is the State of the Sound Program. Beginning this year, Baynes Sound Stewardship activities will be coordinated to develop a Geographic Information System and establish an ongoing process for reporting on the health of the Baynes Sound. Taking into account all the data from water monitoring and the cost-effectiveness of remedies, this is intended to be a tool for making future plans.
Some pollution solutions have incorporated innovative ideas, though as yet they may be only on a small or localized trial basis.
In Union Bay, an experimental "constructed wetland" has been built, to test out the idea of passing waste water through a series of artificial ponds, using gravel and living plants to bring oxygen into the effluent and speed the process of decomposition. For now, it's a small-scale test, but the project organizers are hoping to obtain an 18-hectare site on which to build an approximately two-hectare wetland for sewage treatment.
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Treat septic systems gently Properly functioning septic systems are essential to the health of natural bodies of water, and the way to keep a septic system healthy is to treat it gently.
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A similar sewage plan is in progress in Cumberland, but it calls for the use of natural wetland to aid in biofiltration. Taking advantage of existing swampland, it would add at least one extra level of treatment between effluent and the Trent River watershed.
The cumulative effects of all these efforts have already produced some positive results. Bill Heath, a shellfish production specialist with the provincial fisheries ministry, and currently chair of the Baynes Sound Round Table, says a turnaround point was reached about two years ago, and since then, the status of some shellfish areas has been up-graded. Some of the gains seem small. Re-classifying a harvest area from "prohibited" to "closed," as has happened, may not seem like much. But it is significant. "Closed" areas can, when the conditions are right, be re-opened.
Heath credits the projects successes to the "level of trust" that has been developed between regulating agencies, shellfish harvesters, and local communities.
Neither pollution problems nor their solutions are exclusive to Baynes Sound. Even earlier, farther south in Puget Sound initiatives were begun to repair the damage from human activity that had become obvious.
The oyster industry there is worth $73 million a year, but it's only kept going because the growers keep moving crops around to avoid polluted areas. Last year, of 106 commercial shellfish areas between Blaine and Willapa Bay, 17 were classified as threatened by pollution–an increase of five since 1996.
In one case in the United States, an oyster grower is suing the city of Bremerton in federal court for violating the Clean Water Act. The grower owns tidelands in Dyes Inlet, where the city has as many as 16 outfalls dumping storm water and sewage. Harvesting has been prohibited since 1969.
The Puget Sound Water Quality Authority, created in the 1980s, led to the Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team, which uses ongoing research to update a Puget Sound Water Quality Management Plan. The loss of wetlands, contamination of shellfish areas, and toxic chemicals have all contributed to overall deterioration, with increased shellfish closures, higher levels of toxic contamination, and threatened species. The biomass of herring that spawn in Puget Sound has decreased markedly since the 1970s.
But some progress has been made, and shellfish harvesting has been permitted in places in the last two years, a decrease in infestation by the salt marsh plant spartina, and mussels in some areas showing decreased levels of PCB contamination.
But, whether in Baynes Sound or the Puget Sound, continued vigilance is required to prevent conditions from going back to bad.
* Feature sponsored by Friends of Cortes Island Watershed Sentinel Development Fund
* Homeowners can obtain a copy of the Septic System Maintenance–Pure & Simple video from their local Public Health Agency.
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[From WS June/July 2000]