Concerns over pipeline

Squamish's Luke Gatien says last Sunday, he explored the forest around the FortisBC site near the Northyards, where the Eagle Mountain-Woodfibre Gas Pipeline Project is under construction; what he observed concerned him. 

He says there were “clear signs of environmental damage,” near where the tunnel drilling site is. 

Nine kilometres of new natural gas pipeline will include a tunnel running under the Skwelwil’em Squamish Estuary.

The overall project involves a pipeline from north of Coquitlam to the currently under construction Woodfibre LNG export facility site on the shore of Howw Sound.

Gatien, who says he was checking out the area merely as a concerned citizen, said he saw evidence of “significant harm” to the fish habitat, including high water turbidity in all channels close to the drilling site. 

He was concerned by a lack of environmental monitors on-site on the Sunday he was there.

He also saw no visible water quality instruments in the affected water.

He also notes there was a dead wood duck in the turbid water, though he acknowledges this may not be related to the water quality.

“But in my 10 years of living in Squamish and walking in the estuary, this is the first time I encountered a dead animal that had no signs of predation,” he said. 

He forwarded his concerns to the Environmental Assessment Office (EAO), a neutral regulatory agency within the provincial government, and to the S?wx?wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), which is also an independent regulator on the project.

He shared the email he sent with The Squamish Chief.

‘Contractor investigating’

Darrin Marshall, project director of the Eagle Mountain pipeline, said that construction continues on the project overall, but work on the tunnel site has been stopped temporarily.

 “As an update on the tunnel component of the project, our contractor is investigating site conditions across from the BC Rail site near Government Road.  As a result, tunnelling is currently paused as our contractor stabilizes the ground ahead of the tunnel boring machine to enable crews to carry out an inspection. We have been working closely with our regulators to confirm how we can progress the work in compliance with our regulatory approvals,” Marshall said. 

 “We are currently approximately 200 metres away from the Skwelwil’em Squamish Estuary and Wildlife Management Area—approximately the length of two football fields,” he added. 

“The use of an underground tunnel for this portion of the pipeline work was borne out of local Indigenous community input to protect the Skwelwil’em Squamish Estuary. A condition of approval by both Sk?wx?wu?7mesh U?xwumixw (Squamish Nation) and the BC Environmental Assessment Office is that there will be no surface impacts to the Skwelwil’em Squamish Estuary. We are currently working with Sk?wx?wu?7mesh U?xwumixw to ensure our conditions continue to be met before tunnelling resumes.”

The company posted the same information on its project website.

‘Hold FortisBC accountable’

Local environmental group, My Sea to Sky, has been raising concerns about the tunnel portion of the project since the summer, writing letters to the EAO, which were forwarded to The Squamish Chief. 

“FortisBC is manipulating the truth in their statement dated Nov. 19. While the official boundary of the Skwelwil'em Squamish Estuary Wildlife Management Area is 200 metres away, FortisBC neglects to mention that nearby connecting waterways are only 25 feet from the disturbed riparian area, and these waterways already appear to be impacted by FortisBC's attempts to stabilize the ground around the tunnel,” said executive director Tracey Saxby, in an email.

“This is a disaster waiting to happen. We hope that the BC EAO, DFO, and Squamish Nation will step up as regulators to hold FortisBC accountable and stop the tunnel until this issue is resolved. The Squamish estuary is too precious to be put at risk.”

‘Actively monitoring’

A spokesperson for the EAO told The Squamish Chief on Nov. 21 that compliance and enforcement officers and Squamish Nation environmental monitors are actively monitoring the project through ongoing on-site inspections and review of required documentation and reporting.

“The EAO is aware of the allegations and is following up, including with co-regulators Squamish Nation and the BC Energy Regulator,” the spokesperson said.

“Records of all inspections are posted to the EAO Project Information Centre (EPIC) once finalized, along with documentation of any enforcement action that may be taken.”

 The Squamish Chief reached out to the Squamish Nation but a comment was not immediately available. We will update this story when we hear back.