Victoria, BC. April 9, 2013― Residents of Shawnigan Lake and the Cowichan Valley regional district will converge on the BC Ministry of Environment ((2795 Jutland Road) in Victoria on Wednesday April 10 at Noon, joining Greater Victoria residents in an information picket to stop a contaminated soil facility in their drinking watershed. Later on Wednesday afternoon, Capital Regional District directors will vote on whether to oppose the controversial waste-disposal application.
"The Shawnigan watershed provides drinking water for more than 7,000 people in the Shawnigan area," says Georgia Collins, chair of the Shawnigan Watershed Roundtable, which is participating in the information picket and addressing the CRD Board. "To put a toxic soil dump at the headwaters of a drinking water supply is inappropriate."
Collins will be joined by other concerned citizens from the Shawnigan Creek Protection Association as well as the Victoria-based Social Environmental Alliance, among other local groups. They are urging Environment Minister Terry Lake and Ministry staff to refuse a permit to South Island Aggregates Ltd., which has applied to dispose of 100,000 tons of contaminated soil annually at its quarry adjacent to Shawnigan Creek, which flows into Shawnigan Lake. Public comment on the application closes today.
"Environment Minister Terry Lake has given us his personal assurance that our drinking water is not at risk," Collins says. "We want him to know that the risk is too high. He guarantees there is no pollution today, but I don't think he can guarantee it for 5, 10 or 50 years down the road. Liners do leak. So it goes back to the old saying: 'It's not a question of if, but when.' The toxic chemicals that would be disposed at this site are some of the most toxic chemicals in the world."
After the information picket at the Environment Ministry, Collins and Cowichan Valley Regional District Director Gerry Giles will appear as delegations before the Capital Regional District Board. The Board will debate and vote on a motion from Victoria City Councillor and CRD Director Ben Isitt opposing the controversial waste-disposal facility in the neighbouring regional district.
Members of the public and media are encouraged to attend the information picket and board meeting.
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For further information, please contact:
Georgia Collins, Chair of the Shawnigan Watershed Roundtable, 250-208-9904
Ben Isitt, Victoria City Councillor and CRD Director, 250-507-4257
Georgia Collins
Executive Director, Shawnigan Basin Society
Chair, Shawnigan Watershed Roundtable
250-743-WATER
georgia@shawniganwatershedroundtable.ca
www.shawniganwatershedroundtable.ca
"Water links us to our neighbor in a way more profound and complex than any other."