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BC creates reserve on Texada
Friends of Davie Bay call for full assessment
by Laura Walz | editor@prpeak.com
Provincial officials have created a map reserve on one part of a proposed location for a new quarry on Texada Island.
ILMB (Integrated Land Management Bureau) has placed a Section 16 Land Act Reserve on Crown land adjacent to private land in the Davie Bay area, said Cheekwan Ho, a ministry of forests and range spokesperson. Pat Bell, the minister of forests and range, is also the minister responsible for ILMB.
The reserve prevents any other land act application from being considered within the designated area, Ho said. “Public concerns were brought to our attention about protecting the karst feature,” she said. “We responded to that.” Karst is a unique combination of landforms that includes caves, arches, canyons, springs and sinkholes.
Lehigh Hanson Materials Ltd. filed a mine permit application with the ministry of energy and mines and petroleum resources in May 2009 and a Crown lease application with ILMB in December 2008 for tenure for a proposed barge landing. Lehigh is proposing to mine 20,000 tonnes a month, or 240,000 tonnes annually, from a quarry operation located on a rocky outcrop approximately 1.6 kilometres inland and move the material down to Davie Bay on a conveyor belt.
ILMB could not provide a map showing where the reserve is located because of the ecological sensitivity of the area, Ho said. “We’re reluctant to let the public know exactly where it is,” she said. “It is on Crown land which is adjacent to private land.”
The decision to place a reserve on Crown land was made by staff at a regional ILMB office, as part of the regular file review process, Ho added.
The map reserve is approximately 7.8 hectares in area. It will be deleted from Lehigh’s application to ILMB to develop the site and remove aggregate, said Ho. “ILMB and the ministry of energy, mines and petroleum resources continue to collaborate to ensure that the karst is protected,” she said. “[The ministry] is conducting an ongoing review, which could determine the need for additional assessments.”
Paul Griffiths, a Vancouver Island resident who is an expert in karst, said the final size and identity of the reserve can only be drawn up scientifically after a proper and thorough karst assessment. “Anything else would not be satisfactory,” he said.
Greg Carriere, Lehigh’s manager of industrial minerals, exploration and development, said the company doesn’t have a comment at this point. “We are still evaluating the potential consequences on our application,” he said.
The Friends of Davie Bay have been lobbying to preserve and protect the area. “Friends welcome the action by the ILMB to protect the karst feature, however the map reserve at just 7.8 hectares is seen as a first step in the protection of the contiguous karst area, which in Davie Bay has been observed as the most extensive and well decorated of all known caves along the BC Mainland Coast between Washington and Alaska, so worth preserving,” said the group’s spokesman Richard Fletcher. “The next step is for the ILMB to authorize a full karst assessment to define the contiguous boundary of the karst area, a position supported by the Powell River Regional District.”
Nicholas Simons, MLA for Powell River-Sunshine Coast, said he also supported the call for a full karst assessment. “The placement of a map reserve on some of the known karst features shows us the need to do a proper assessment of the area,” he said. “The geographical features may have international significance, and a proper assessment is a reasonable next step.”
ILMB (Integrated Land Management Bureau) has placed a Section 16 Land Act Reserve on Crown land adjacent to private land in the Davie Bay area, said Cheekwan Ho, a ministry of forests and range spokesperson. Pat Bell, the minister of forests and range, is also the minister responsible for ILMB.
The reserve prevents any other land act application from being considered within the designated area, Ho said. “Public concerns were brought to our attention about protecting the karst feature,” she said. “We responded to that.” Karst is a unique combination of landforms that includes caves, arches, canyons, springs and sinkholes.
Lehigh Hanson Materials Ltd. filed a mine permit application with the ministry of energy and mines and petroleum resources in May 2009 and a Crown lease application with ILMB in December 2008 for tenure for a proposed barge landing. Lehigh is proposing to mine 20,000 tonnes a month, or 240,000 tonnes annually, from a quarry operation located on a rocky outcrop approximately 1.6 kilometres inland and move the material down to Davie Bay on a conveyor belt.
ILMB could not provide a map showing where the reserve is located because of the ecological sensitivity of the area, Ho said. “We’re reluctant to let the public know exactly where it is,” she said. “It is on Crown land which is adjacent to private land.”
The decision to place a reserve on Crown land was made by staff at a regional ILMB office, as part of the regular file review process, Ho added.
The map reserve is approximately 7.8 hectares in area. It will be deleted from Lehigh’s application to ILMB to develop the site and remove aggregate, said Ho. “ILMB and the ministry of energy, mines and petroleum resources continue to collaborate to ensure that the karst is protected,” she said. “[The ministry] is conducting an ongoing review, which could determine the need for additional assessments.”
Paul Griffiths, a Vancouver Island resident who is an expert in karst, said the final size and identity of the reserve can only be drawn up scientifically after a proper and thorough karst assessment. “Anything else would not be satisfactory,” he said.
Greg Carriere, Lehigh’s manager of industrial minerals, exploration and development, said the company doesn’t have a comment at this point. “We are still evaluating the potential consequences on our application,” he said.
The Friends of Davie Bay have been lobbying to preserve and protect the area. “Friends welcome the action by the ILMB to protect the karst feature, however the map reserve at just 7.8 hectares is seen as a first step in the protection of the contiguous karst area, which in Davie Bay has been observed as the most extensive and well decorated of all known caves along the BC Mainland Coast between Washington and Alaska, so worth preserving,” said the group’s spokesman Richard Fletcher. “The next step is for the ILMB to authorize a full karst assessment to define the contiguous boundary of the karst area, a position supported by the Powell River Regional District.”
Nicholas Simons, MLA for Powell River-Sunshine Coast, said he also supported the call for a full karst assessment. “The placement of a map reserve on some of the known karst features shows us the need to do a proper assessment of the area,” he said. “The geographical features may have international significance, and a proper assessment is a reasonable next step.”
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The following are comments from online readers. In no way do they represent the views of Peak Publishing Ltd. To suggest removal of comments that violate the terms of use, please e-mail webmaster@prpeak.com.
deluxebros wrote on Nov 26, 2009 7:30 PM:
Karst is only one reason to not put this quarry in place. "