qathet Regional District’s board will consider a Water Act application for wetlands in the vicinity of Butterfly Point on Texada Island, which is close to Van Anda.
At the July 5 planning committee meeting, directors reviewed a recommendation that the ministry of forests be informed that the board has no objection for the application by Imperial Limestone Company Ltd.
According to a staff report, the applicant stated that the existing Imperial Limestone waste rock storage stockpile is at capacity and cannot be expanded vertically due to geotechnical limitations. The staff report indicated that the applicant stated that continued operation of the quarry requires an expansion of the waste rock storage stockpile. The applicant stated the best expansion area is crown land immediately to the east of the existing waste rock stockpile, which is 5.5 hectares in size and contains four small wetlands, approximately 0.22 hectares in area.
Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick, in whose area the application is situated, asked about the status of the wetlands – whether there was a stream or a pond, or if it was a swamp.
Manager of planning services Laura Roddan said there has been an assessment done by a registered professional biologist. Planner Julia Dykstra said there were recommendations of steps for the applicant to take regarding those areas of water. She said the application is for modification and drainage of the water that is there, and the applicant has been provided guidance by the ministry of forests in the form of a management and conservation plans.
“There were two professional assessments that were done under the Water Act application and they are applying for changes and improvements,” said Dykstra.
McCormick asked if there was a stream there now. Dykstra said as far as she can tell, it is not a stream. Roddan said the approving ministry will consider the full findings of the environmental assessment and adjust the application area if needed or maybe mitigation options will address environment issues.
Electoral Area A director and planning committee chair Jason Lennox asked if there was any community activity in the active mining area and was informed by McCormick there was not any community activity there. McCormick said her concerns were if the wetlands could have been a fish-bearing body of water.
Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne read from the staff report that the applicant stated that in order to prepare the foundation for the proposed waste rock expansion, the wetlands will need to be drained, and that the expansion area will need to be logged and stripped prior to construction.
“Wetlands are unique environmental features,” said Gisborne. “The 0.22-hectare coverage of wetland doesn’t really cover the full scope of how far these things can be under the surface. If the applicant was making application to drain this wetland and then revitalize another portion to make another wetland, I wouldn’t be so hesitant to support such an application. At this point, I don’t support draining wetlands without any plan to mitigate that impact. I object to draining wetlands.”
Lennox said he saw in the report assessments that are required by professionals.
“For me, this is an active, longstanding resource extraction area that is designated for that,” said Lennox. “All the considerations of higher impacts will be considered.”
The planning committee recommended the regional board express no objection to the application for the wetlands in the vicinity of Butterfly Point, with Gisborne opposed.
