Burnco Mine – the next step
June 17, 2018

While many are still in disbelief those responsible for protecting the environment have approved the mining of 21 million tonnes of gravel in the McNab Valley in Howe Sound, Burnco still has one more hurdle. Approval for rezoning the land from its current rural use to industrial is needed in order for the processing of the material to take place on site. According to the planning department, if the SCRD Board resolves to move forward with amending the zoning bylaw a public hearing will be required. Should rezoning be turned down Burnco’s business case would have to reconsidered.
It is unlikely anyone who values the area for the peace and quiet close to nature will support the rezoning application. For generations the area has been a retreat away from the noise. The mine’s detrimental impact on the social values will never be offset.
In May the Canadian Environment Minister, Katherine McKenna approved the project and followed by the Fisheries and Oceans decision. No details are given behind the Fisheries and Oceans decision and the steps forward will be even less transparent.
Should the project commence, close monitoring and implementation of best practices will be essential to preventing harm. After the Mount Polley disaster, a groundbreaking and comprehensive analysis of BC’s Health Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines (“HSRC”) and Mines Act, The Path to Zero Failures outlines the many changes the BC government needs to make to the HSRC and the Mines Act, in order to prevent future catastrophic failures. The natural capital of this area is too valuable to settle for anything less.
I thought we were still waiting for the fisheries approval. I am shocked to hear it has been approved. When Burnco first applied, fisheries said no way. What has changed? I would like to know why fisheries has approved the destruction of a active spawning channel?!? All the fish that return there will die with nowhere to go and spawn. Is our fisheries department not supposed to protect fish?!? And if not, why do we need them?
Substantial compensation is required to be created to offset loss of habitat. The details of the mitigation and compensation for removal of the spawning channel are detailed in the studies – here is an excerpt https://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/evaluations/document/121182?culture=en-CA#_Toc089.
Here is the decision quietly announced by Fisheries and Oceans Canada last May following approval by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
https://ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/evaluations/document/122769?culture=en-CA