Add your voice to oppose
the Hazardous Waste Site!

City of Chilliwack and Aevitas Corp.
propose a very ill-considered location
for Hazardous Waste handling:
RIGHT next to the Fraser River!
Speak up now!


  proposed site a few hundred metres from Fraser River

Chilliwack City Council will hear the 4th reading of the rezoning proposal shortly.


Use the form to the right to send your Feedback to City Council NOW:


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The potential of a catastrophic fish kill due to flooding or leaching into the Fraser River of hazardous materials has united First Nations, environmentalists, sport fishing organizations, and concerned citizens in opposition to this proposed hazardous waste site.

As reported in The Chilliwack Times and The Progress, the groups do not oppose a Hazardous Waste processing facility - only the location in question.
Summary of Issue
Aevitas Inc. proposes to use the site next to the Fraser River in Chilliwack for processing wastes containing PCB's and mercury, and for transfer of materials including corrosive, flammable, toxic and infectious wastes. On December 17, First Nations, recreational, environmental and community groups gathered near the Aevitas site to call for relocation of the proposed facility and for comprehensive public reviews of the proposal by the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Health.

STC Grand Chief Clarence Pennier stated: "The recycling plant will be in the heart of Sto:lo territory and it will be too close to the Fraser River. It's unacceptable because it poses a danger to the river and the salmon."

Rod Clapton, President of the B.C. Federation of Drift Fishers stated: "No amount of economic benefit can justify putting a hazardous waste facility next to the world's Number 1 salmon river."

Watershed Watch Salmon Society Executive Director Craig Orr said: "Wild salmon are at risk from hazardous spills of PCB's, mercury, and other contaminants, and placing these toxins next to Canada's greatest salmon river is fraught with peril."

Scott Denkers, Communications Coordinator for World Rivers Day describes the City's plan for a toxic waste site along the banks of the Fraser River as "a dangerous and controversial proposal."

Representatives of eleven organizations called for the relocation of the Aevitas facility away from any location with potential for harm to fish stocks. That coalition has now expanded to twenty-four organizations and continues to grow.
Coalition Dismayed by Chilliwack City Council's Decision and Response

1. Strong indications are that City Council wanted to fast-track the project:
  • lack of suitable notice; given the ramifications of a project involving toxic and carcinogenic waste handling, the minimum required notice was not sufficient
  • misleading claim that M6 rezoning provided the opportunity to exert more control over the project
  • ignoring Stó:lo Tribal Council Policy Advisor Ernie Crey's request for postponement until adequate FN consultation could be accommodated
2. Council's defiant, uncooperative stance in response to the Coalition's concerns:
  • flip-flopping on the facts around Ernie Crey's request - first claiming no request to postpone was received, then when shown to be false changing the story to "no requirement to do so in this case"
  • taking a "bare-minimum" attitude towards City's responsibilities: (i) no requirement to consult FN so we won't, (ii) we haven't broken any laws
  • claiming its too late / nothing can be done now (overlooking Mayor Gaetz' own resort to extraordinary power invocation a year ago)
Public comments in the media:

"A little forethought by the "unanimous" council would have saved a lot of trouble and showed good leadership."
~ Leigh

"I've lived here all my life. Ive seen fishing site after fishing site destroyed by industry on the Fraser. In my 61 years I've seen that site underwater many times."
~ Ken

Concerns:
  • Adequacy of public process leading to the rezoning
  • Proximity to Fraser River and risk to fish stocks
Demands:
  • Relocation of proposed facility to a site that does not pose risk to fish stocks
  • Comprehensive public reviews of the proposal by the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Health

ATTN: Chilliwack City Council

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