During 2001, marine
habitat protection was a theme that ran through much of SPEC' s campaign
efforts. From its earliest days in the 1970s, SPEC has taken measures
to protect the aquatic environment by limiting and preventing pollutants
from entering the marine habitat. SPEC's first campaign in 1969 targeted
oil refineries, chemical plants and other industries that used Burrard
Inlet as a convenient dump site for industrial effluents. A parallel
campaign aimed at preserving diminishing Fraser Valley wetlands from
industrial and urban encroachment.
In 2001 and 2002,
SPEC applied a strong component of Marine Habitat Protection in eight
major marine related campaigns in which the Society was involved.
Coastal Alliance
for Aquaculture Reform
Recognizing the impact of aquaculture on the marine environment, SPEC
president David Cadman joined environmental and First Nations organizations
including the Aboriginal Fisheries Commission, the David Suzuki Foundation,
Sierra Legal Defence Fund and the Georgia Strait Alliance in forming
an umbrella group to deal with marine aquaculture issue: the Coastal
Alliance for Aquaculture Reform.
The Alliance holds
workshops on policy questions related to the BC moratorium on salmon
aquaculture, as well as ongoing issues related to effluent and pollution
generated by aquaculture production.
On April 29, 2002,
Cadman participated in an Alliance press conference dealing with the
provincial moratorium.
Orca
Pass International Stewardship Area
In 1999 a number of environmental NGOs formulated an ambitious plan
for a marine protected area (MPA) strategy to connect the southern Gulf
Islands and the US San Juan Islands. The goal was to protect the flora,
fauna and ecosystem of an area that has been designated as the Orca
Pass. SPEC participates in this initiative as part of the Sound and
Straits Coalition; a grouping of 19 environmental NGOs
The initiative evolved
into a major campaign involving the BC Islands Trust and Washington
State's San Juan County. The purpose of the campaign is to spark citizen-led
efforts to increase actions to protect the marine habitat by designating
a network of MPAs in the Orca Pass Internationals Stewardship Area.
The Sound and Straits Coalition has worked with San Juan County to produce
a Marine Management Area Workbook designed to help local island communities
identify MPA sites.
The campaign conducted
all day workshop on May 02, 2002 chaired by Laurie MacBride and Kathy
Fletcher.
Nanoose
Bay Campaign
Every time a US nuclear attack submarine fires a torpedo at the Nanoose
Bay underwater weapons test range north of Nanaimo, it dumps 30 kgs
of lead ballast and up to 5 kms of copper wire onto the sea bed of Georgia
Strait Since testing started in 1965, submarines and Canadian naval
aircraft have dumped over 1300 tons of lead, 93,000 kms of copper wire,
thousands of lithium batteries and other toxic materials into sensitive
salmon habitats. In Canada it is illegal to dump toxic material into
fish habitat.
In 1996 SPEC and
the Nanoose Conversion Campaign Society challenged a federal government
ruling exempting warships from environmental regulations protecting
marine habitat. The courts upheld the federal minister's discretionary
power to make exemptions.
The minister also
excluded warships from oil pollution regulations. In 1996 the nuclear
powered US aircraft carrier Nimitz sailed into Nanoose trailing a three
kilometre slick of fuel oil that was noticed only after local SPEC activists
reported the spill.
Between 1996 and
2002, SPEC focussed its efforts on getting the US and Canadian Navies
to stop polluting the waters off Nanoose Bay. A recent poll commissioned
by SPEC indicates that over 73 percent of British Columbians do not
want nuclear-powered and nuclear weapons capable warships testing weapons
in Georgia Strait.
Finally on Mar.
05, 2002, the Federal Court of Canada ruled in favour of a SPEC motion
and overturned the 1999 Federal Government expropriation of Nanoose
Bay. This landmark ruling, which was won for SPEC by West Coast Environmental
Law staff lawyer Andrew Gage, confirms the right of BC citizens to determine
what activities are conducted in BC waters. The BC government has the
power to ensure those polluting activities at Nanoose cease.
A SPEC delegation
will be meet with the BC Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and senior
officials on May 17. The delegation will recommend an immediate halt
to polluting practices at Nanoose.
The
Georgia Basin Ecosystem Initiative
The Georgia Basin Initiative (GBEI) is a joint federal provincial project
that began in 1998. The GBEI has created consultative steering committees
and advisory groups to assist in developing policy that is considered
by Victoria and Ottawa when creating legislation to protect the marine
habitat of the Georgia Basin. As part of the process, SPEC has spoken
in favour of measures to reduce point sources of pollution that flow
into the Strait, as well as establishing marine protected areas to preserve
sensitive ecosystems.
The GBEI partners
have developed a set of action plans to prevent water pollution, conserve
and protect habitat and species and support community-based environmental
and sustainability initiatives. GBEI partners have also committed to
a "philosophy" of protecting the ecosystem, as outlined in
the Joint Framework for Action.
SPEC president David
Cadman represents the Society at the GBEI. He will be part of a May
15, 2002 GBEI workshop on significant sustainability issues facing Georgia
Basin/Puget Sound. It will address how ecosystem based approaches are
contributing tot he environmental, economic and social sustainability
of the region and collaboratively, how participants are supporting the
process.
Oil
Free Coast Alliance
In September 2001, SPEC was at the founding meeting of the Oil Free
Coast Alliance - a grouping of over 90 First Nations, environmental,
community and businesses organizations who want to maintain the 30-year-old
moratorium on oil exploration off the BC Coast. Alliance members are
concerned about the environmental hazards posed by offshore oil drilling
and production in an area deemed to be one of the most sensitive marine
habitats in Canada.
SPEC devoted considerable
staff and volunteer resources to Alliance campaigns that raise public
awareness. SPEC also met with federal, provincial and local authorities.
At upcoming environmental reviews that have been promised by the provincial
and federal governments on May 01, 2002, SPEC will take an active role
in preparing submissions for the reviews.
Cruise Ship Pollution
In 2001 SPEC worked with the Ocean
Blue Foundation and the West Coast
Environmental Law Association (WCELA) in addressing problems related
to the dumping of pollution and waste effluent from the many cruise
ships that ply the BC Coast from May to October. Alaska, California
and Washington have recognized the problem and have developed comprehensive
measures to control cruise ship pollution. Unfortunately BC lags behind.
A major report -
Cruise Control - prepared by WCELA outlined detailed recommendations
for BC and Canada to implement regulatory procedures that will prevent
BC from becoming a "dumping ground" for ship pollution.
On April 25, 2002,
SPEC president David Cadman spoke on behalf of environmental NGOs at
a major Vancouver conference on world-wide cruise ship pollution sponsored
by the American Waste Management Association. Senior Environment Canada
officials, industry representatives, transportation consultants, US
EPA officials and representatives from the European Union heard SPEC's
position on the need to curb this growing source of marine pollution.
Chevron
In late May 2000, 80,000 litres of toxic MTBE gas additive was spilled
at Chevron's north Burnaby refinery. This was only the latest in a string
of accidents at the refinery, which is located on the south shore of
Burrard Inlet. MTBE is a recognized human carcinogen that is notorious
for contaminating water systems. California Governor Gray Davis wants
to ban MTBE use in California by the end of 2003.
In an attempt to
deal with contaminated groundwater, Chevron has received a permit from
the Ministry of Water Land and Air Protection to dump MTBE contaminated
groundwater directly into Burrard Inlet.
SPEC will appeal
the permit before the Environmental Appeal Board. The grounds for the
appeal are that:
- this permit reverses
30 years of policy and practice that has tried to limit pollutants
from being dumped into Burrard,
- there is very
little information on the short term or long term effects of MTBE
on the ecology of Burrard Inlet;
- and Chevron has
not demonstrated why it cannot pursue alternatives to dumping a toxic
substance into the Inlet.
The Appeal, which
is expected to be heard in the fall of 2002, will consume considerable
SPEC resources.
GVRD
Liquid Waste Management Plan
In early March 2001, the GVRD released its draft Liquid Waste Management
Plan (LWMP). The Plan outlines how the region will handle liquid waste
over the next century. Unfortunately the draft LWMP fails to address
the two biggest sources of pollution in the region:
- the existing
combined storm sewer outfalls (CSO) that directly pump millions of
litres of raw sewage into False Creek, English Bay, Burrard Inlet
and the Fraser River during periods of heavy rainfall; and
- the Iona Island
and Lions Gate sewage treatment plants that dump effluent into Georgia
Strait that fails to comply with provisions of the federal Fisheries
Act according to toxicity tests conducted by Environment Canada in
2001.
SPEC, together with
the T. Buck Suzuki Foundation and the Sierra Legal Defence Fund, urged
the GVRD and municipal councils including Vancouver City Council to
amend the LWMP to meet federal regulations. SPEC also met with the BC
Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection and urged her to revise the
draft LWMP before approval.
The LWMP was approved
in April 2002 with minor amendments that fail to set a date for elimination
of CSOs before 2050, and no upgrades to Iona or Lions Gate before 2020
and 2030. Meanwhile untreated sewage laced with dioxins, pesticides,
PCBs, mercury, lead copper and cadmium will continue to be dumped into
Georgia Strait every day.
SPEC continues to
explore legal and other avenues of stopping the largest single source
of pollution that threatens marine habitat of the Georgia Basin.
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