Environmental organization My Sea to Sky has called on the provincial watchdog organization, the Environment Assessment Office (EAO), to investigate FortisBC’s Eagle Mountain to Woodfibre Gas Pipeline Project at the BC Rail tunnel portal site in Squamish’s Northyards.
The letter to the EAO, which was forwarded to The Squamish Chief by My Sea to Sky's executive director Tracey Saxby, claims that Saxby was informed "by a worker who is working to construct the tunnel at the BC Rail tunnel portal site," in late July that the project is having "significant" challenges.
"The worker explained that because they have to blast slurry at high pressure to move the soft sediment, and because the tunnel is so shallow, bentonite slurry keeps coming up to the surface," the letter reads.
Saxby, a marine scientist, goes on to say that it is her understanding that the slurry could be damaging to aquatic life.
"I’m particularly concerned about the potential impacts to the Squamish estuary, river, and marine environment of Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound if the bentonite slurry keeps coming up to the surface as they continue tunnelling under the Skwelwil'em Squamish Estuary Wildlife Management Area for a total of 3.8 kilometres," she said.
Ultimately, the letter demands that "construction on the tunnel must be halted until these issues are resolved."
'Release of clay and water mixture'
In response, a FortisBC spokesperson told The Squamish Chief that tunnelling is progressing on the Eagle Mountain to Woodfibre Gas Pipeline Project, acknowledging that there was an incident earlier this summer.
"Around the beginning of tunnelling at the BC Rail site near Government Road, we did have a release of clay and water mixture from our tunnel boring machine," the spokesperson said.
"We took immediate action and contained the release. We remain in compliance with the conditions in our Environmental Assessment Certificate," she added.
"We followed the appropriate protocols by notifying the relevant authorities, including the BC Energy Regulator and Indigenous groups.”
'Reviewing the allegations'
For its part, the EAO told The Squamish Chief that FortisBC is currently in compliance on the pipeline.
"The Environmental Assessment Office is aware of the complaint of a possible spill at the BC Rail site during the construction of the Eagle Mountain – Woodfibre Gas Pipeline. EAO compliance and enforcement officers are reviewing the allegations and will take action if warranted," the spokesperson said.
The EAO, BC Energy Regulator and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) have a compliance agreement that allows for the sharing of information, the spokesperson noted, and the Nation regularly has environmental monitors on-site.
"Squamish Nation has not advised the EAO of any concerns of this nature," the EAO emailed statement reads.
"Currently, [the] Eagle Mountain – Woodfibre Gas Pipeline is proactively inspected by compliance and enforcement officers in a continuous cycle every one to two months during construction. EAO compliance and enforcement officers continue to monitor compliance and will be undertaking future inspections as part of EAO’s ongoing compliance and enforcement program where issues of non-compliance will be reviewed."
Nation’s role as a regulator taken ‘extremely seriously’
Regarding this issue, Sxwixwtn, Wilson Williams, Nation spokesperson and council member, told The Squamish Chief that FortisBC is currently in compliance with the Nation on the pipeline project.
After its own environmental assessment process—Canada’s first legally-binding Indigenous-led environmental assessment of an industrial project—the Nation approved three agreements related to the LNG project in 2018: with Woodfibre LNG, the provincial government and FortisBC.
Wilson said that as a project regulator, the Nation was "promptly notified" of the slurry release at the west tunnel portal in July.
"Our monitoring team confirmed the slurry release stayed within a few metres of the tunnel portal, was contained on the property, and did not impact any water bodies," said Wilson.
He reiterated that FortisBC completed a risk assessment, and new mitigation measures were then put in place to reduce the likelihood of a recurrence and improve monitoring and tracking systems.
"Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw takes our role as a regulator extremely seriously, and the protection of the air, land, water, wildlife, and people is paramount in our territory," Wilson said.
"As a regulator, we maintain oversight of the FortisBC Eagle Mountain Pipeline project by continuously monitoring compliance with the Squamish Nation Environmental Assessment Agreement, agreed-upon approved management plans, best management practices and applicable regulations.
"Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw has Indigenous monitors on-site throughout construction and conduct regular inspections to verify compliance."
**Please note that this story was modified after it was first posted to remove the exact day of the tunnel incident from the Nation's portion of the story, as there was a one-day discrepancy that caused confusion and could not be immediately cleared up.
