Local governments feel they have been left out of the process to assess a proposal to build a sand and gravel mine at McNab Creek in West Howe Sound.
The proposal is currently making its way through a federal environmental assessment, recently reaching the first public commentary period.
According to the assessment begun April 27, 2010, the Burnco Rock Products Ltd. proposal places the development approximately 22 km southwest of Squamish.
The life expectancy of the mine, which could produce as much as 1.6 million tonnes in yearly aggregate, is estimated to be around 20 to 30 years.
The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) planning committee was taken by surprise to hear that the proposal had reached the public commentary period.
"We've got a huge thing going on, and we find out about it in the newspaper, when we have already registered quite a strong degree of concern," commented West Howe Sound director Lee Turnbull at the Jan. 19 committee meeting.
"The extent of this - this is going to be bigger than Sechelt. I'm not kidding. This is bigger than the [Lehigh] construction aggregate and it's going to be running out of Howe Sound."
The regional district discussed issuing a request to Burnco to begin a rezoning process with the SCRD, a move staff and directors feel might increase the regional district's involvement in the proposal's assessment.
Town of Gibsons director LeeAnn Johnson also suggested that the SCRD's concerns be taken up with West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky member of Parliament John Weston.
"I think perhaps it would be appropriate to question him as to why local government doesn't even get the courtesy of a heads-up notice, so that locally elected people are not sandbagged by an ad in the newspaper," she said.
This proposal has been on the radar of local governments since it was first presented to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in 2009, but four lengthy pauses have occurred throughout the assessment.
Between June 2010 and Dec. 2011, the assessment process had been put on hold for over 14 months when responses to various requests for information from the proponent were deemed insufficient.
"I've been aware of this project for about three years," said Coun. Dan Bouman at the Jan. 17 Town of Gibsons council meeting, referring to the initial plan put forward to DFO. "I'm wondering: [DFO] is the key agency that has statutory authority to grant or not grant authority to do habitat damage. They're saying it's too much. Why are we going into environmental assessment?"
In addition to the actual mine, Burnco is proposing a marine loading facility and on-site processing plant be built.
When the company first brought forward the plan to DFO, immediate concern was raised over the impact such a development might have on fish habitats.
McNab Creek is considered by fisheries to be a high quality salmon habitat that includes spawning streams for coho and chum. The area also supports chinook and pink salmon.
According to Derek Holmes, operations manager of the aggregate division of Burnco, DFO is still heavily involved in the environmental assessment process, despite their worries about fish habitats.
"They had some concerns about the project that they stated to us, and so we provided them with some technical reports which they were then satisfied with," Holmes said. "It was on hold for about a year while we gathered more information about the site and the project. So now it's getting kicked off again."
Tracey Sandgathe, regional manager of environmental assessment and major projects with DFO, said any potential fisheries authorization would be tied to the results of the environmental assessment.
"They run parallel, and a lot of the information that is used to determine whether a fisheries act authorization is necessary is considered during the environmental assessment phase," she said.
The official public commentary period runs until Feb. 3, 2012. Two more opportunities will occur throughout the remaining assessment process.
