Re: A fight she thought she won years ago (The NEWS, Jan. 15).
What is Mayco thinking? They have applied to the government once again, to take a watershed and turn it into a gravel pit. Why on earth would the government even consider allowing this?
In 2010, we fought to save our watershed, as it has fish-bearing creeks, ponds and wildlife, not to mention all the homes which rely on this creek for their water.
Streamkeepers have spent numerous hours restoring Whiskey Creek. Fisheries comes up and maintains the ecosystem, by putting totes of fish into the waterways to enhance the creek.
The road they intend to build will be going right through this wetland. The pond on which the salmon spawn is at the lowest corner and and everything will be drawn to it. This then feeds into Whiskey Creek, which feeds into the Little Qualicum River.
According to the company’s application, after the removal of aggregate, topsoil, overburden materials that were stockpiled during initial pit stripping, will then be placed on the final slope as a growth media.
Alternate-growth media may be employed when deemed to enhance the site productivity. Options may include the importation of non native topsoil materials, fertilization and/or the use of biosolids.
The latter has been successfully employed by several operations with in the Lehigh/Mayco group of companies.
What? For those of you who are unaware of what biosolids are, it is the sludge that comes from treatment plants.
Human feces, along with whatever medications, illnesses and whatnot, that comes from our bodies.
But the clincher to this whole thing is they will be going down within one metre of any established ground water, then applying biosolids on top of that.
In my world, my septic field has to be 100 feet away from any water source. So how is it that they are able to this?
Give your head a shake Mayco. Go to an area that has already been designated for gravel pits and stay out of residential sectors and leave wetlands alone.
Sherry Anderson
Qualicum Beach