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Bogged down

Three weeks later, still no answers on what B.C. Transits 'environmental assessment' of B.C. Hydro’s land means
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A Pond in Transit? Rocket and Kelly Richards with their dog Mojo in front of Nesters Pond. Photo by Claire Piech

Since moving from Burnaby into their quaint home overlooking Nesters Pond nine years ago, Rocket and Kelly Richards have seen a host of wildlife wander into the area, including bears, coyotes, bobcats, geese — and otters.

Over the years, the couple has taken snap shots with a digital camera clearly depicting these animals playing in the water during summer months, and walking over the ice in the winter.

Unfortunately, the vibrant ecosystem the Richards love at Nesters Pond faces a very real threat: the possible relocation of Whistler's transit station onto the wetland complex.

Over the past three weeks, B.C. Transit has been quietly conducting a geotechnical analysis of the area to see if the land is suitable to pave over and erect a hub for Whistler’s new fleet of 20 hydrogen buses coming in 2009, along with a hydrogen fueling station. Described as an “environmental assessment”, the analysis has seen an eight-metre dirt road cut jaggedly into the forest immediately adjacent to the wetland complex to allow large machines to roll in and drill holes deep into the soil.

"I am shocked," said Kelly Richards from her home on Nesters Road.

"If this is sustainable, then I don't understand sustainability."

According to B.C. Transit representative Chris Lythgo, the analysis has finished and a report of the findings is now being prepared. But as late as Tuesday morning, men wearing red waterproof suites and carrying machetes were still walking through the area, hacking at the felled trees lining the dirt road. Pink flagging tape has also been tied to several spots within the wetland itself.

"There are other people in our building that aren’t happy either," said Kelly Richards.

"We are going to see what the MLA (Joan McIntyre) does. Because we are the only residents of the pond, I just don’t think anyone else in Whistler realizes what is happening."

Biologist Bob Brett said even if B.C. Transit concluded the landscape is too environmentally sensitive for the bus station, the geotechnical work done so far will still leave a scar on the environment.

He stressed the wetland complex is interconnected with the rest of Whistler's ecosystem, which is exemplified by the fact Kelly and Rocket have spotted an otter in Nesters Pond.

While otters and other large mammals like bears and coyotes can move through the valley more easily than creatures such as frogs and voles, they all require some level of connectivity, which ecologists call stepping stones.

“As more and more pieces of the valley are paved or blocked off to travel, these species have fewer stepping stones, so we need to protect not only important habitat patches but also stepping stones between those patches,” said Brett.

“How will paving and fencing this site affect otters as well as amphibians and other species? It is very hard to predict, other than to say it is not going to help them.”

B.C. Transit's latest proposal would not be the first man-made structure on the wetland. Water from Nesters Pond already passes under Terasen Gas's local headquarters and the municipal works yard before heading into the B.C. Hydro lands, and then funneling into Green Lake.

Brett added: “I think the take-home message is that even small parcels like this are very important, especially in the context of providing habitat and stepping stones throughout the valley.”

The B.C. Hydro land is one of several sites being examined by B.C. Transit for the new bus station. B.C. Transit’s current lease in Function Junction expires in 2013. The current bus facility is not large enough to accommodate the new hydrogen buses, and the municipality is also concerned with the deadhead costs of starting and ending each bus trip in Function Junction and extra missions incurred with a non-centrally located transit facility.

Councillor Eckhard Zeidler has been actively drawing attention to the issue since B.C. Transit first moved bulldozers in for the assessment on May 26. Because the wetland complex sits on land owned by a Crown corporation, B.C. Hydro, the land is exempt from Resort Municipality of Whistler bylaws. And while both B.C. Transit and B.C. Hydro have said they are committed to working with the RMOW, Zeidler fears the past month's geotechnical work is just the beginning of what is to come.

"People should see it for themselves and draw their own conclusions about whether the Hydro land is an important piece of connectivity," said Zeidler.

"It is important to know that Nesters Pond is healthy enough to support otters. It becomes a question of how do we keep it as healthy as we can, and that can't happen if we just pave over the surrounding environment. This whole area is already heavily impacted. To me, it is a question of whether we continue that destructive trend, or whether we can draw that line," he said.

West Vancouver-Garibaldi MLA Joan McIntyre said she has made calls to Victoria and Whistler to get more information on what is happening on the B.C. Hydro land.

"I am hoping all parties are being respectful and being committed to the environmental issues," said McIntyre.

"I am honestly hopefully that this will unfold properly."

She added that it was "very hard to comment" on the issue, and she is sorry the community is upset by what has been happening.

The wetland complex in question is one of the last remaining wetlands in Whistler. Over the past 50 years, Whistler has lost about 72 per cent of its wetlands due to human activity.

An environmental assessment done by Cascade Environmental Resource Group in 1999 revealed that the area is a red-listed wetland. And David Williamson, who helped carry out the investigation at the time, suspects it still is, since areas rarely move off that list. A red-list distinction means species within the land are endangered or threatened.

Charlotte Banister from B.C. Hydro said this week that the Crown corporation is committed to "avoid causing environmental impact as a first priority, work to reduce impact where they do occur and enhance effective habitat, and sustain resources over the long term."

But when asked if B.C. Hydro was monitoring the work being done on site, Banister said: "B.C. Transit is responsible for their environmental work at the site, and if there is damage as a result of their work, we’ll assess the damage and work with BCTC (British Columbia Transmission Corporation) and interested stakeholders to ensure that they develop and implement plans to address any impacts."