Another Wave of EDRF Victories
“We feel very strongly that support from West Coast Environmental Law, in the form of guidance from Andrew Gage and financial support for legal services through the Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund, were instrumental in establishing sound legal arguments against a development application that was very nearly a fait accompli.”
Sierra Club Conservation Committee
Farm Can’t Duck Manure Complaints
In the fall of 2001, the Westcreek Citizens’ Society (WCS) filed a complaint before the provincial Farm Practices Board against a large industrial duck farm causing air and water quality problems with its manure storage practices. West Coast’s Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund provided support of WCS’s complaint in the spring of 2002, and this summer the Farm Practices Board ruled in favour of the Westcreek Citizens’ Society in a judgment that has important ramifications for future complaints.
In BC, farmers are free to cause various types of nuisance to their neighbours as long as their farm practices are otherwise legal and “normal.” The WCS’s complaint asked the Farm Practices Board to rule whether it was normal duck farming practice to cause serious risk to groundwater and smells that resulted in severe nausea and respiratory problems.
The Farm Practices Board agreed with the WCS that the duck farm was not “normal” when it came to matters of odour and flooding. The Board also found that close proximity to residential dwellings is a factor that must be considered in determining what practices are normal – an important principle for future complaints.
The duck farm has been ordered to cease operations effective November 1, 2003, until a modified manure management system has been put in place. The Board has required that the duck farmer replace the current liquid manure management system with a more stringent dry manure management system to reduce the pungent and unpleasant odour. This change will also reduce risks to groundwater.
Aboriginal Rights on Forest Lands
When forest giant Timberwest asked the provincial government to let it use pesticides on its private land operations in the traditional territory of the Cowichan Tribes (on Vancouver Island), the First Nation voiced its opposition to any pesticide use in their territory. The Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection approved Timberwest’s proposed Pest Management Plan, but did include conditions to limit pesticide use and to address specific concerns of the Cowichan Tribes related to the impact of pesticide use on fish and ungulates, and on areas of spiritual significance.
Timberwest appealed the conditions attached to the Pest Management Plan to the Environmental Appeal Board, arguing that the Administrator should not be consulting the Cowichan Tribes about pesticide spraying on private land, and that the conditions were not necessary to accommodate the Cowichan Tribes’ concerns. The EDRF assisted the Cowichan Tribes in gaining representation during Timberwest’s appeal.
The Environmental Appeal Board’s decision, released September 3rd reaffirmed the Tribes’ right to be consulted about pesticide use on private lands and established that an otherwise “reasonable” pest management plan could be set aside if it did not adequately accomodate First Nations concerns. The Board also accepted the Cowichan Tribes’ view that pesticide use by its very nature could make spiritual sites unclean.
Unfortunately, the Board set aside a condition requiring increased setbacks from streams to protect fish and ungulate populations; saying there was not evidence that these conditions were necessary.
Comox Valley Land Deal Under Scrutiny
When the Comox Valley Land Trust discovered that the Province of BC had promised to sell ecologically significant tracts of Crown land to a private developer and intended to sell more, they launched a local awareness campaign on the future of Lannan Forest, Lerwick Forest, and portions of the Millard Greenbelt. The Trust’s main concerns were the provincially recognized ecological character of the forest and greenbelt lands, the lack of public notice to sell, and the lack of community and First Nations consultation.
A coalition of First Nations, watershed stewardship groups, residents’ associations emerged to carry out a successful petition campaign to the City of Courtenay and a broad educational campaign about the value of these areas to the Comox Valley. The EDRF was able to complement these efforts by providing funding for an in-depth legal opinion on the options for preventing or challenging the sale of these lands by the Province.
In the end, a political decision was reached for most of the disputed areas: the City of Courtenay has agreed to purchase Lerwick Forest and the Millard Greenbelt, protecting these two properties with conservation covenants. The Coalition continues to pressure the provincial government to sell Lannan Forest to the Regional District as park, rather than selling it for private development. To date, the province has promised that before selling the property, it will consult with the Regional District and the Comox Indian Band.
Rare Burrard Inlet Habitat saved
Bedwell Bay in Burrard Inlet is home to the largest continuous stretch of eelgrass in Indian Arm. The eelgrass ecosystem provides vital spawning and rearing habitat for many species of fish, including wild pink and chum salmon, prawn, and crab populations.
Sierra Club Lower Mainland Conservation Committee is concerned that the growing number of private docks in this intertidal area is destroying the ecosystem through seabed disruption, shading and habitat fragmentation.
With legal support from the EDRF, the Committee was able to convince the Vancouver Port Authority to reject an application for a new Bedwell Bay dock, largely due to concerns about the importance of protecting the Bedwell Bay eelgrass habitat.
Sustainable Energy Shot in the Arm
Congratulations to former EDRF client the Georgia Strait Crossing Concerned Citizens Coalition, which has been raising environmental concerns throughout government consideration of BC Hydro’s Vancouver Island energy plan.
In late August, the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) rejected Hydro’s proposal to build a power station at Duke Point, in Nanaimo. Although the reasoning for the decision related to the cost-effectiveness of the power station, the BCUC adopted a number of the Coalition’s arguments and the Coalition considers the decision environmentally
favourable.
The Coalition did not require EDRF funding to appear before the BCUC; however, many of the arguments used, as well as the Coalition’s excellent relationship with their lawyer, were developed when the Coalition appeared, with EDRF support, before the National Energy Board.
Pesticide Rules Challenged
A ground-breaking case from the BC Supreme Court has rewritten the way that the provincial government is supposed to regulate pesticides in the province. See
New Rules on Pesticide Safety in this issue for more information.
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