The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) is awaiting word from Victoria on an amendment to its parks use permit for Tetrahedron Park to allow construction of the Chapman Lake Expansion Project.
The SCRD’s infrastructure services committee was scheduled to review the environmental assessment report that will back up the application at its Feb. 16 meeting.
The regional district was told last June that BC Parks required an updated report, and that the Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (FLNRO) wanted a new water licence application, including an “environmental flow needs” study.
The report, prepared by AECOM, focuses on seven “environmental and social aspects associated with the construction and operation of the new system,” such as noise, water and air quality, and found that if proper mitigation procedures are followed, especially around the areas impacted during construction, “operational impacts will be insignificant.” The report does, however, recommend close monitoring of the effects on Chapman Lake of an increased drawdown during drought conditions.
It also looked at specific red and blue listed animal and plant species such as Dolly Varden trout, Roosevelt elk, Western toad, Sitka sedge and peat mosses, concluding that while the elk, for example, may avoid the area during construction and some streams where the Dolly Varden spawn may be temporarily cut off, there will be no long-term impact.
The main water quality concern identified in the report would be during construction, when there’s a small risk of an accidental spill, or increased sedimentation from runoff.
“The potential for spills can be minimized through supplies of proper containment materials on site and effective spill response training,” the report concludes. “During operation, the only likely water quality concern will be increased concentrations of total suspended solids. It is expected that any change from baseline water quality conditions would be of limited duration.”
As to the human use of Tetrahedron Park, the report concludes “the proposed works during construction would not obstruct the existing hiking trails.
“Construction will affect the visual quality for some hikers passing the construction site. While park use is focused primarily during the winter months, the few users that might pass by Chapman Lake during construction may find the construction camp and excavation work intrusive.”
According to the report, preliminary field work on May 31, 2016 did not find any evidence that archeological artifacts might be in the project area, but it recommends archeological monitoring of excavations and the first time the lake is drawn down any further than three metres, which is expected to happen near the end of construction.
The report is now in the hands of officials at BC Parks and FLNRO as well as the shíshálh and Squamish Nations for review and comment. It’s also available to the public on the SCRD website.
The additional studies added just over $123,000 to the project’s $5-million budget.
The SCRD is still anticipating construction can begin later this year. While AECOM has been hired to handle the design, regulatory approvals and construction management, the SCRD has yet to announce who will do the actual construction work if the project gets final approval. A request for bids from interested companies closed on Dec. 9, 2016
The AECOM report also notes that once that contractor is selected, a final environmental management plan can be drafted that will include setting a helicopter flight path to the construction camp that avoids bird nesting trees and other sensitive areas and arranging for further archeological, geological and biological studies.
