Why I'm hopping mad
November 25, 2017
Eoin Finn
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has turned down the Burnco gravel mine twice before. Yet the BC EAO is recommending that the Ministers rubber stamp the project, even though the salmon data being used to assess the project for McNab Creek comes from consultants hired by Burnco.
Yesterday I met with staff from the BC Environmental Assessment Office (BC EAO). I left the meeting hopping mad because it is even more apparent that the review of the Burnco gravel mine is a complete sham.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has turned down this project, twice, because of concerns about the impacts to this project on critical salmon spawning habitat.
Yet the BC EAO is recommending that the Ministers rubber stamp the project, even though the salmon data being used to assess the project for McNab Creek comes from consultants hired by Burnco. Science that is bought and paid for by the proponent has an inherent conflict of interest. This is known as a Professional Reliance approach, and is all too often neither professional nor reliable.
We have 2.5 days left to send a message to Minister Mungall and Minister Heyman to tell them to stop Burnco and fix our broken environmental assessment process.
Thankfully the BC NDP and the BC Greens recently implemented a review of the Professional Reliance approach. The Burnco project is a prime example of how the professional reliance approach is failing us, and puts the fox in charge of the hen house.
DFO has already sent Burnco's consultants back to collect more data after a local citizen scientist, John Buchanan, sent them video of salmon spawning in the upper channel that contradicted the findings of the consultants.
The BC environmental assessment office is making recommendations to approve Burnco based on insufficient and biased data.
It only takes two minutes to add your name to our template letter. If you have more time, a personalized letter has even more impact.
DEADLINE 10pm, Monday 27th November
Our Citizens Working Group is working hard to review the draft report, and we will submit a scathing review about dust, noise, loss of property values, barge traffic, and all of the issues that the BC EAO has seen fit to ignore.
The truth is that this project is simply in the wrong place. We can put a destructive gravel mine anywhere, but it does not belong in one of only three estuaries we have in Howe Sound.
Please send the Ministers a message now.
Eoin & the My Sea to Sky team
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