At the December 21 qathet Regional District (qRD) board meeting, chair and Electoral Area A director Patrick Brabazon outlined developments regarding a proposed waste transfer site north of Lund.
Brabazon, in his chair’s report, said during the two weeks prior to the board meeting, the regional district’s planning committee received a notification from the applicant that he wanted to deposit wood waste on a property on Sarah Point Road in Electoral Area A.
“For the last two weeks I have been fielding more than 20 emails on the subject, and those emails have resulted in thousands of signatures on a petition,” said Brabazon. “Now, that application has been withdrawn.
“The reason why I mention it is that so many people, including my constituents, I’m sorry to say, have weighed in without knowing what the situation is, or more importantly, what the consequences are. I don’t know what the consequences would be, but I went with the ministry of environment and climate change strategy recommendation that there were no contaminants in whatever was being transported up.”
Brabazon said however, despite the ministry of environment comments, this issue has blown up on CBC, on radio stations, and there were thousands of people who weighed in with their opinions.
“I’m very sorry, on behalf of the applicant, because he never had a chance to state what his position was and what the actual circumstances were,” said Brabazon. “Frankly, I’m very sorry for the community, because I don’t think that jumping on this does us any credit whatsoever.”
The directors, during the meeting, voted to receive correspondence from Jeff Levine, who was the proponent for the wood waste disposal. Levine said through the consultation and notification period, he had received feedback from the local community about the application that was submitted to the ministry of environment to obtain approval for a temporary wood disposal facility on his property.
“All of the guidelines and regulations were followed, including consultation with first nations and notifying the local neighbours,” Levine stated in his correspondence. “The intended disposal location was previously clear cut and has been historically used as a forest industry site. The surrounding crown land was clear cut three years ago. The historic use of the property and the surrounding area was a major consideration in choosing the subject site.”
Levine stated it is unfortunate that false information was intentionally distributed, stating that the wood material was toxic waste.
“This is simply not true,” stated Levine. “This was an application for disposal of non-hazardous wood material, in accordance with provincial guidelines and by qualified environmental professionals.
“The constructive feedback and ideas of the local community are appreciated. Although all provincial requirements for this type of facility have been met, it is the concerns of the local community that has prompted the decision to withdraw the application with the ministry of environment, effective immediately.”
