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New Shrew for you!
A recent announcement from "Mammalian Biology" heralds the identification of a new species of Shrew - basically, any urban dweller would call it a rat and put out the traps, be that as it may, this discovery shouts loudly that, low and behold, the bog is yet full of mystery. Gateway is all about ending that for containers. Imagine the wondrous losses that will cause. So put away the traps, and take some pride in living in a city where such a place exists in spite of all previous stupidity. Then, step up with us and stop the next round of stupidity.
Burns Bog is threatened!
Burns Bog is a raised peat bog located in Delta, British Columbia, Canada. It is the largest undeveloped urban landmass in North America. It is also the only known raised peat bog in a Mediterranean climate. This unique and precious resource is home to a variety of animals and birds and is already under great stress due to regional development and pollution.
Water Flows to and from the River:
Burns bog passes water back and forth with the Fraser River as the tide rises and falls. The impact of bisecting the connecting water courses and underlying peat are unknown even to the scientist who have studied bog ecosystems for many years.
Canada, British Columbia and the Municipality of Delta invested $70 Million dollars and employed the world's leading bog scientists to ensure the survival of the bog into the future. But Gateway has hired non-specialized hydrologists to evaluate the impact on the Bog of the SFPR expecting that these acolytes might somehow divine a favorable outcome for the project.
All evidence indicates that they still have a lot of study ahead to determine the impacts of major construction and a ribbon of concrete permanently isolating the bog from the river. The Gateway submission to the Environmental Assessment states specifically that there are far too many unknowns outside the control of the proponent to determine what damage may be done.
Given that they can't even figure out what will go wrong, there is no way to determine if it can be corrected, how it can be corrected and most pointedly, how much it will cost to correct it. Any argument they give about road costs is utter hogwash because they have no idea what costs will be incurred. Of course, if you are prepared to destroy the bog to make sure it can be turned into container farms, then I guess you can very easily set the cost at "next-to-nothing" Which is exactly what they've done. Makes you wonder what their agenda is really.
Burns Bog Conservation Society Position Paper on the SFPR also calls for Gateway to look more deeply into the impacts on the bog and prove beyond any doubt that the road will not have a negative impact.
Add some heavy diesel particulate and other road pollutants...
A four lane truck freeway along the edge of the Bog will not only dam it off from the Fraser River but also increase the presence of toxic exhaust, diesel particulate, and acid rain over the Bog. The local wildlife, of which there are red and blue listed endangered species, will be further stressed, possibly to the point of extinction. As an added bonus, the inevitable heavy metal contaminants that fall off of all cars (new & old) like cadmium and chromium leech into the soils and any flow that might still remain carries that toxic soup into the root systems of nearby trees, rotting them from the inside out.
Again, Gateway provides no substantial commentary on the impacts to wildlife and fauna. Offering no solution and no money to the potential impacts, Gateway still believes this road is the best possible alignment. Sadly they are blind to all other ideas, most particularly the better ideas.
Hyped up on some kind of ego trip,
Mike Proudfoot and Min. Kevin Falcon have failed to recognize that in most cases the people who live and work in a place are often the best resource for ways to improve the place. Rather than work with us, they have decided for us and used a heavy bureaucratic cudgel to slam this road down our throats.
A road on the South side of the bog would have less impact on the bog, would take less industrial lands away from Tilbury, and feed existing infrastructure (Highway 10 and Alex Fraser / Highway 91) more directly. See the Hoover Nass proposal at www.ThereIsAnotherWay.com.
Have a closer look at what we have to lose at the Burns Bog Society website
For your information:
The protective covenant signed by the Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments states:
"No government shall take action or permit action to be taken that would diminish the health of the bog..."
Individuals may not initiate legal action against the government, but one government level may initiate action against another on behalf of the people.
Contact your local Municipal representative and demand that Delta employ the municiaplity's lawyers in pursuing legal action against Gateway for proceeding with plans that are explicitly contrary to the word and intent of the protective covenant.
Don't hesitate - email them now with your outrage!