News as of March 14, 2008
Watershed Committee
The SCRD Board has created a new standing committee called the Watersheds Committee.
This committee will meet once a month at 10am on the third Thursday at
the Field Rd Board office. It is a subsection of the Infrastructure Committee
and deals with all watersheds on the Sunshine Coast that provide drinking water.
This includes not only the Chapman and Grey watersheds, but also the lake systems
in Pender Harbour and any of the small watersheds that provide drinking water
by gravity feed or wells. The intention is to focus on watershed
issues in a way that gives the Board and staff the time to give this important
issue the attention it deserves. As with all standing committees, all Board
members attend and the meetings are open to the public.
News as of November 20, 2007
The SCRD Board has made the decision not to appeal Justice Butler's ruling which
overturned the Local Board of Health order against some of the logging activity
by Western Forest Products in the Chapman Creek watershed. Please click
here to read the latest press release from the SCRD which outlines
our position and the alternative actions we are taking in the political arena
to gain protection of our drinking watershed.
News as of August 31, 2007
The actions of the Sunshine Coast Regional District acting as a Local Board
of Health (LBH) to address concerns about the Chapman Creek watershed
have made news across the country, even appearing on the front page of
the Globe and Mail! This is the first time that a local government in
BC has taken this type of action and municipalities and regional districts
across BC are taking notice. After the LBH issued its order (download
the order as a pdf file) Western Forest Products (WFP) filed for
an appeal which will be heard on September 10 at BC Supreme Court in
Vancouver. In the meantime, the company also asked a Supreme Court judge
for a stay of the order. This would mean a temporary suspension of the
order pending an appeal.
I attended in court to hear the arguments of lawyers acting for the company, the SCRD and for the citizens who originally filed a complaint with the LBH that WFP’s forestry activities in the Chapman watershed are a threat to public drinking water. Western’s legal team made 3 basic points: that the LBH order was unreasonable because the evidence presented at the 5 days of LBH hearings did not support the order; that the LBH did not have the jurisdiction to make the order both because of wording in the Health Act and because it creates an operational conflict with the company’s rights under the Forest Act; and that the LBH members were biased. The respondents against the stay argued that the merits of the case need to be heard in the appeal process; that issuing the stay would make the appeal process moot because the logging would take place before the appeal could be heard; that the SCRD was not only within its rights to act as a Local Board of Health to rule on this issue but was obligated to do so under the Health Act; and, finally, that the order clearly shows a lack of bias because of its reasonable and balanced content.
The Judge ultimately ruled that part of the LBH order could stand, namely that WFP cannot log on the steep slopes of 60% or greater, but that the rest of the order was stayed until the appeal is heard. Click this link to download a pdf containing Justice Butler’s reasons.
While we are disappointed that the stay was not denied entirely, we are
pleased that the judge acknowledged the right of the Local Board of Health
to have made this ruling and that the steep slope areas above the watershed will
not be cut further. The merits of the case and the evidence presented to
the Local Board of Health will now be heard in the appeal process which
starts September 10 and is estimated to take about 4 days. The process
is fascinating to witness. If you wish to attend, the address is 800 Smythe
St in downtown Vancouver. The day begins at 10am and the room # is posted
in the lobby.
The Provincial government is certainly paying attention to this case. Lawyers
from the Attorney General’s Office were present at the stay hearing
and we expect that they will apply to participate in the appeal proceedings.
Ultimately the fate of our watershed and the role of local government in
the activities that go on in it will be decided in the political realm.
We expect to have some meetings with representatives of the Provincial
Government in September and will be taking the issue to the Union of BC
Municipalities annual conference at the end of the month.
News as of August 11, 2007:
Media Release and Order Under the Health Act
On August 11, 2007 the Sunshine Coast Regional District, sitting as a Local
Board of Health, issued a Press
Release and Health Act
Order regarding logging by Western
Forest Products in sensitive areas of the Chapman Creek Watershed.
News as of July 14, 2007:
SCRD to Investigate Complaint
The SCRD met as a Local Board of Health to set
up the process of investigating a complaint concerning a health hazard
to public drinking water from logging plans for the Chapman Creek watershed.
Two days have been scheduled to begin a process
like a public hearing so that the Board can hear evidence on this issue: Monday July 23 at 9am and
Tuesday July 24 at 9am. These meetings (at the SCRD offices on Field Rd)
will be open to the public and members of the public will be welcome to
make submissions. People are asked to keep to the items contained in the
complaint, namely the risk to public health posed by road building and
logging by Western Forest Products in the Chapman Creek watershed.
Written submissions will also be accepted:
by snail mail to SCRD, 1975 Field Rd., Sechelt, BC, V0N 3A1
or email: info@scrd.bc.ca
Court Case
On Monday July 9, the 5 defendants in an injunction hearing launched by
Western Forest Products appeared in court in Vancouver. The hearing was
postponed until Tuesday July 17 to allow the defendants’ counsel
time to prepare his case. Since my husband was named in the suit by WFP,
I am in conflict of interest if matters pertaining directly to the court
case come before the SCRD Board. Please contact my alternate, Elaine
Futterman, if you have concerns you wish to bring to the Board’s
attention. She can be reached at: creekclayworks@armourtech.com
I am able to be a full participant in discussions on the watershed issue
that do not relate to the specific court case involving these defendants.
News as of July 9, 2007:
The right to clean drinking water is one issue
that we can all agree on, no matter what our political bent might be. At
the moment it seems that our drinking watersheds are under siege. We have
logging companies on both private and Crown land working or preparing to
work in the watersheds of Chapman Creek, Wilson Creek, Waugh Lake, Ruby
Lake, Mt Elphinstone and more. The SCRD is committed to ensuring that we
all have safe drinking water systems. In the past several months the Board
has had to take action in a number of areas. The resolutions we have passed
are listed below.
In plain language, this is the situation. On June 19, the SCRD Board and
Medical Health Officer Paul Martiquet met with representatives from Western
Forest Products (WFP) to discuss their plans for logging in and near the
Chapman Creek Watershed. This is Crown land on which they have a timber
license and have been given permission by the Ministry of Forest and Range
to log. At that meeting, the company was asked by Dr Martiquet to voluntarily
refrain from any further work in the area until the consultant hired by
the SCRD to review WFP’s plans had submitted his report. The company
agreed to wait until June 29.
On June 28, the SCRD received the report from the consultant who stated
that in his opinion there was “no imminent threat” to our drinking
water and that “cumulative effects would be negligible.” This
opinion was based on 2 important assumptions:
• that WFP would do a good job
• and that the regulations under the Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA)
are sufficient protection.
Also on June 28, the SCRD Board received a complaint from a group of citizens expressing concern about the potential threat to our major drinking watershed and asking the Board to act as a local Board of Health (which all Regional Districts are by law) to investigate the complaint. The SCRD Board has agreed to do this and sent a letter to WFP asking the company to hold off on their activity in the watershed until the investigation is complete.
The date of the first meeting of the local Board of Health will be on July 12 at 11am at the Field Rd SCRD offices. The meeting is open to the public. However, the Board will not be receiving submissions at the meeting because its purpose is to lay out the structure of the investigation…how many meetings will be held, how they will be advertised and so on.
WFP has decided to continue with its plans in the watershed despite the request from the SCRD. A group of citizens has been conducting a peaceful protest on the logging road and has prevented WFP from continuing with its work. On July 4, several people were served with papers by WFP including a summons to appear in court on the morning of Monday, July 9 when WFP will be applying for an injunction against their blockade.
history
“Chapman
and Gray Creek Watershed Reserves: A History” (Based on research
by the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association). Covers the period 1910-2006.
pdf format.
SCRD Resolutions
The SCRD has initiated several resolutions aimed
at protecting the watershed. This pdf document lists SCRD Resolutions
on this issue as of July 7, 2007.
Additional SCRD
Resolutions (as of July 12, 2007)