The Editor:
I'm responding to article written by Diane Strandberg about the construction contamination spills into Stoney Creek.
The article made it sound like the City of Coquitlam has this under control and unfortunately, that is not completely accurate.
They are certainly very aware of the situation; however, there is still lots the city needs to do to resolve and prevent future spills.
Municipalities have very clear rules in place that developers must contain all water on site and it cannot be released until it meets strict B.C. environmental standards.
The problem is the guidelines to manage this process are ineffective.
Testing is done periodically and water while captured is frequently released without testing.
City staff and bylaw officers who are stretched thin can’t be on site 24/7. There is also independent monitoring done but this, too, happens infrequently.
So unless residents or stream keepers see a spill, it goes unreported.
We are lucky we have lots of eyes on this particular creek.
I hope most developers are following existing rules. There are also sub-contractors who are either unaware of existing rules or simply don’t care about the rules. For example, cement wash is a very common problem. This material is extremely high pH and will kill everything in the creeks. Most storm storm drains flow into creeks.
Encouraging news is there is a solution available.
Current fines are obviously ineffective and happen after the damage has occurred.
There is new technology developed by a company called Flowlink. This made-in-Canada technology measures, monitors and sends out notifications of pH, conductivity, temperature, turbidity and dissolved oxygen.
This is done frequently in real time.
The system automatically diverts any construction water not meeting BC Environmental standards to tanks to be treated. It’s cheap and very effective. The program sends out immediate notifications to any number of people letting them know there is an issue that needs to be dealt with.
Flowlink is the solution all stream keepers have been waiting for.
Municipalities involved are aware of this technology. We need them to mandate to all developers to use this technology to prevent the ongoing devastation caused by these spills. Our salmon are counting on you to do the right thing.
- Kevin Ryan, president of BIMES/Mossom Creek Hatchery
Editor's Note: The article did note that the city is installing a Flowlink monitor in Stoney Creek.
