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Officials with the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Delta temporarily put the brakes on Mainland Sand and Gravel Ltd.’s (MSG) proposed gravel-mine operation located near Olsen Creek in the Upper Pitt River Valley, at the northerly end of Pitt Lake. In a letter to Ministry of Energy and Mines, DFO said the proponent (MSG) has not fully addressed concerns with respect to potential impacts on the fishery resource and cited a long list of requirements below: • A report by Scott resources Services Inc. dated March 12, 1999 was said to insufficient and did not fully describe the fish and fish habitat values potentially impacted by the mine project. • DFO ‘did not support’ the recommendation that a “mine and monitor approach be implemented,” made in a report dated the 2nd of December 1998, by AGRA Earth & Environmental Ltd. • Yet to be resolved were the issues of groundwater and sediment runoff, operational plans for the mine, and a review of a lower haul road and the likely site barge-loading facilities adjacent to sensitive aquatic areas associated with the north end of Pitt Lake. DFO went on to state that given their proximity, widening of the lower haul road, or construction of barge loading facilities might involve the harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of productive fish habitat (“HADD”). “HADD associated with the proposed MSG project would require authorization by DFO pursuant to Sections 35(1) and 35(2) of the Fisheries Act. The requirement of a formal DFO authorization would trigger the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA), and federal agencies, including DFO, would then be obliged to conduct a CEAA environmental assessment of the project,” said the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. • Should the MSG project undergo CEAA environmental assessment, all aspects including: Mine development and operation, gravel handling and transportation including haul roads, barge loading and unloading facilities, and gravel barge operation would need to be addressed in a single report. • Under a CEAA environmental assessment, relevant information the MSG project would include: Identification of all possible impacts to fish and fish habitat, including all waterbodies, watercourses, and riparian areas that might result from development or operation of the proposed mine; maximum groundwater levels; groundwater flow rates and patterns; groundwater regeneration; sieve analyses on samples of gravels that are to mined; impasses to fish passage; groundwater monitoring plan; a runoff, erosion and sediment control plan; dust and fuel spill response plans. • And finally, the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans goes on to say possible further information may be required to facilitate further assessment of the proposed project, particularly if it requires formal DFO authorization and assessment pursuant to Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. According to members of the Pitt River & Area Watershed Network (PRAWN), a group unanimously opposed to the proposed Upper Pitt River gravel-mine project -- and comprised of representatives from the Katzie First Nation, Steelhead Society of B.C., B.C. Federation of Driftfishers, B.C. Wildlife Federation, Western Canada Wilderness Committee, Sierra Legal Defence Fund, Port Coquitlam & District & Hunting Club, Burke Mountain Naturalists, Upper Pitt River Lodge, Pitt Lake Legendary Adventures, Alouette River Management Society, West Water Flyfishers and the Steelheader Salmon & Trout News -- the Provincial NDP Government has failed to reply to dozens of letters and remains silent on the issue of protecting vital salmon habitat and B.C.’s threatened coho stocks. – Ken Kristian
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