Coquitlam will be reviewing sedimentation control requirements for Burke Mountain developments in the wake of unusually heavy rains on the weekend that sent mud, water and debris from construction sites pouring down Coast Meridian Road and into ditches and creeks.
For the most part, erosion control measures put in by developers worked well considering the high volume of rain, said Verne Kucy, the city's acting environmental services manager. But a few couldn't keep up with the flow and, in one case, a contractor didn't have proper sediment-control measures in place.
The mayor has said that developer has been shut down - a tougher penalty than a fine - and won't be permitted to start construction again until the problem is fixed.
"You can imagine, we simply won't tolerate this," Richard Stewart said.
Kucy said the city will be looking at its requirements for erosion control during construction and will be working with contractors to ensure proper measures are in place for the next rainfall, expected later this week.
"That type of rainfall will expose weaknesses in some of these erosion-control systems," Kucy said. "We're not happy with everything [but], in the overall, I think people are cognizant and they are getting better and recognizing it."
The stream of mud and water that overflowed ditches and spilled onto roads drew complaints from residents and brought city councillors, employees and contractors up to Burke Mountain on the weekend.
COULDN'T BELIEVE IT
"When I drove up, I couldn't believe what I was seeing," said Shane Peachman of the Hyde Creek Watershed Society. He said mud and silt were flowing down Coast Meridian Road from above David Avenue, and silt - dangerous to fish because it clogs their gills - was so bad it plugged filters at the hatchery and volunteers gave up replacing them.
Peachman criticized the contractor he said hadn't completed sediment-control measures before the rain started. Recently, another contractor on Burke Mountain was fined for allowing concrete water wash to flow into West Smiling Creek.
"You cannot leave your site like that," Peachman said, noting that other contractors managed to get to their sites on the weekend and were working to fix the problem.
Polygon president Neil Crystal said his company's workers were on site Sunday trying to deal with the deluge and plans are in the works to add additional ditches to deal with future heavy rains.
"It was a heck of a lot of rain and the system was designed and approved, but that much rain... we're sort of reinforcing what's in place," Crystal said. "Hopefully the problems won't occur. It's been a challenge up there."
Crystal said problems can start further up the mountain and will wash out sediment-control measures, even those built to withstand the deluge.
"It's the downstream guys that catch it," he said.
