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Work on a Trans Mountain pipeline crossing in British Columbia. A stream destroyed salmon habitat, raising concerns about the Crown corporation's ability to build infrastructure through waterways if the expansion project continues, a scientist said.
Mike Pearson stated that "amateur hours" on the Stewart Creek to Chilliwack pbadage will reduce the sources of food for coho and chum salmon and limit their ability to hide from predators. Fishes are part of the diet of southern resident killer whales threatened with extinction.
"The habitat was not taken into account, which is not acceptable," said Pearson, a biologist with 30 years of experience, in an interview.
Trans Mountain Corp. has filed with the National Energy Board documents indicating its intent to cover an exposed pipe in Fraser Valley Creek. He wrote that he would place concrete mats in the channel, extending about eight meters upstream and nine meters downstream from the exposed line, and cover it with small stones.
Pearson said the work was completed from August to September of last year. He visited the site in December and took pictures which, he says, show that most of the stones were washed away, leaving the concrete blocks exposed.
"The work has degraded habitat in several ways," he wrote in an badessment filed with the Energy Board by intervener Yarrow Ecovillage.
The smooth, hard concrete does not hide the salmon, supports very few aquatic invertebrates that it feeds on, inhibits plant growth and prevents fish from burying their eggs, the paper says.
Pearson thinks it's not an isolated incident. An badessment that he conducted on a pipeline runway on Mount Sumas in 2015 for Pipe Up Network, an anti-pipeline group, concluded that the site was physically unstable and rebuilt with inappropriate materials for restoration. of the habitat.
A watercourse authority also expressed concerns about the excavation work at the Trans Mountain Terminal in Burnaby. John Preissl filed several complaints with the Energy Board, alleging that the work had resulted in sediment falling into two streams containing salmon.
Federal and provincial officials inspected the terminal in April and discovered improper sediment and erosion control measures. A follow-up report from the Energy Board concluded that Trans Mountain had resolved the problem by the end of November.
Trans Mountain said in a statement that the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission had approved its work at Stewart Creek and had found no problems during site inspections during and after construction. .
A third-party engineer designed the plan to protect the exposed line and conducted a study to ensure that it would not interfere with fish pbadage. Environmental plans were created and the work was controlled on a full-time basis by a qualified environmental professional, he added.
With respect to Pearson's reviews of the Sumas Mountain crossing in 2015, Trans Mountain stated that an independent environmental consultant had completed an badessment and developed a management plan. The work was monitored by an environmental professional and the oil and gas commission found no problem.
He also indicated that "extended" sediment control measures and mitigation efforts were in place at his Burnaby terminal.
The company added that field crews had investigated all potential watercourse crossings for its expansion project even before it was submitted for approval by the Energy Commission.
"The information gathered through this field work allows us to avoid or minimize impacts on fish and fish habitat during pipeline construction," he said, adding that environmental inspectors would monitor construction.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government purchased the pipeline and the expansion project for $ 4.5 billion.
The expansion would triple the capacity of the existing Edmonton-Burnaby line. The energy commission completed its first review in 2016 and recommended the government to approve the project with 157 conditions.
In its report, the commission wrote that watercourse crossing plans "would effectively reduce the magnitude of the effects on fish and fish habitat".
Before commencing the construction of the watercourse crossing, the company must submit to the council details of the presence of fish and its habitat.
West Coast Environmental Law attorney Eugene Kung said, for the most part, "A plan to develop a plan".
"They have no measurable effect on the outcome."
The Federal Court of Appeal quashed the approval of the project in August, in part because the commission had not considered the impacts of shipping. The government ordered the council to reconsider the matter and report back on February 22.
Scientists and environmentalists say the new study, limited to 12 nautical miles off the coast of British Columbia, is neglecting the streams and rivers that feed salmon.
Office spokesman James Stevenson said it would take into account all the evidence on the record that is useful in badessing the impacts of project-related marine navigation, including but not limited to the marine environment. and limit impacts on southern resident killer whales.
"Some parties have filed evidence about prey (southern residents), including salmon," he said.
The board rejected Pearson's testimony because Yarrow Ecovillage filed it nine days after the December deadline, but noted that the evidence "may have some relevance to salmon, a food source for ( southern residents) ".
Chinook salmon represent about 80% of the diet of southern resident killer whales in summer, but 14-18% of chum, coho and rainbow trout, and their winter diet is poorly known, said Pearson in his document filed with the Office of Energy.
Paul Spong, founder of the Orca Lab research station on Vancouver Island, said chum was the second choice of whales after chinook, adding that famine was the biggest threat to their survival.
"Anything that interferes with salmon using river systems is detrimental to orcas."
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