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Remediation efforts underway on Cheakamus River

Recovery plans could take decades, as waterways closed to anglers

Less than two weeks after a train derailment spilled more than 40,000 litres of caustic sodium hydroxide into the Cheakamus River, the true scope of the damage to fish and their food sources is only starting to be realized.

Earlier estimates put the kill between 70 and 90 per cent in the affected area of the Cheakamus before the chemical cooled and could be absorbed or diluted by the waterway. While exact numbers can never be known, current kill estimates are about 90 per cent – all of the species that were hit by the chemical spill are likely dead or dying.

"Government agencies are using the 90 per cent number in the main stream, but we don’t really know, the river is quite silty and coloured so it’s very hard to determine real numbers," said Karl Halverson of the North Vancouver Outdoor School.

"It’s also understood that 90 per cent is likely a conservative estimate, and that the kill was likely higher."

The North Vancouver Outdoor School is downstream of the spill, and has several spawning channels. One of the channels was hit by the chemical, resulting in an almost complete kill of fish. But the school received warning from residents and was able to close off the other two channels. Halverson said it isn’t likely that the school’s operations will be affected by the spill, but as a "major stakeholder" on the Cheakamus he hopes to be part of the remediation talks and efforts.

The spill took place at approximately 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 5. Nine cars derailed en route to Prince George in a section of the Cheakamus Canyon, including one car that carried the sodium hydroxide. Known by the chemical symbol NaOH, sodium hydroxide is used for a variety of industrial applications in liquid forms. It’s extremely acidic, burning the fish it came into contact with. Residents reported seeing fish jump out of the water onto the rocks when the plume came through, and some living fish have been discovered further downstream in the Squamish River that are in distress with burned gills and other damage.

Sodium Hydroxide is also extremely reactive, and turns into harmless compounds when exposed to oxygen and water. The quality of the water returned to normal shortly after the spill, and there were no reported risks to residents along the river using well water.

The main concern is the impact that the spill had on resident fish, insects, invertebrates and other living organisms in the river, and how the river can sustain life in the future when the entire food chain was damaged.

Although Halverson said he would have like to have received more official notification after the spill was reported, rather than hearing the worst from neighbours upstream of the school, he is satisfied with the level of response.

"Government agencies and CN have been taking this very seriously, which is encouraging," he said. "Right now agencies are discussing a framework of what they can do, and it’s in very early stages, but they’re not starting with nothing. To date there has been an awful lot of discussion about remediation for the Squamish system as a whole, even before the accident happened we were working on a Squamish recovery plan that included the Cheakamus."

After more than three years of work, that plan was tabled by the Pacific Salmon Foundation on Wednesday, Aug. 17 at the North Vancouver Outdoor School.

"Pacific Salmon Foundation has the plan, and with the dedication and timely support by the corporate community, the Squamish First Nation, the Squamish River Recovery Team as well as community partners, we all have the ability to recover Pacific Salmon in the Squamish River watershed and the Cheakamus River," said foundation executive director Dr. Paul Kariya. CN has already agreed to support the plan.

Halverson believes that some of that plan can be applied to the remediation efforts, but is concerned that the talks will revolve around recovery plans for "big name fish," rather than resident fish like sculpins, lampreys, dolly varden and rainbow trout that make up the base of the food chain. Most salmon runs likely won’t be affected by the spill.

"If you look at the sport fishery, the pinks (salmon) haven’t finished running, the chinook haven’t finished running, the chum and coho haven’t even come into the river yet, so the fish that were most impacted were the feed fish and the steelhead," he said.

Some fish have trickled back into the river from protected areas, like backwaters and side channels, and the priority is to protect those fish stocks. Starting on Monday, Aug. 15, the Ministry of Environment announced a full angling closure on the Cheakamus and Mamquam Rivers, as well as a portion of the Squamish River downstream of the Cheakamus. The closure was supported by all levels of government, First Nations and regional sport fishing advisory committees.

The closure is in effect until Sept. 30, but will likely be extended once that deadline passes.

While the Mamquam was not affected by the spill, government agencies want to give pink salmon in the river a maximum chance to spawn, which can help to restock the Cheakamus.

"That was a no-brainer for us, to protect whatever fish might be left in the rivers. Even a catch-and-release program can stress the fish, and we want the fish to be as healthy as possible because they’re our breeding stock for the future of the river," said Brian Clark, who was the provincial incident commander for the spill site. "I wouldn’t be surprised if the closure were to last for years, although we’ll be reassessing things as we go along."

Clark remains involved as the regional manager of environmental stewardship for the environment ministry.

A task force has begun remediation efforts with input from CN Rail, Squamish First Nations, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the Ministry of the Environment. Other stakeholders, such as sport fishery groups and B.C. Hydro are also involved in discussions.

On Sept. 14, the task force will host a public meeting at the North Vancouver Outdoor School to discuss the impact of the spill, the response to the spill, and a framework for river remediation efforts. Members of the public will have a chance to comment on the recovery plan and make their own suggestions.

Most data that is currently being collected on fish, insects and other species will be presented at that meeting.

"That core assessment is not complete, but hopefully in the next few weeks we’ll have a real idea of the impact, but right now we can say it was every species and every age class," said Clark. "When we know what the impact was – and we’re going to break it down for every species and every age class – we’ll be able to come up with plans how to recover every class of species.

"Hopefully we’ll have a plan that everyone can sign off on by the end of September."

Steelhead are of particular concern. Not only was this population already considered at risk by the South Coast Steelhead Coalition, but juvenile steelhead can stay in a river from two to three years before heading out into the ocean. As a result, there may be no returning populations in 2008 to 2010.

"We have to make sure that returners are protected and the offspring are really healthy, and that might mean closures four or five years down the road," said Clark. "Every species is going to need different kinds of remediation."

Some of the options being discussed including fertilizing the river, increasing algae growth and insects to increase the food supply and survival rate of surviving residents; stepping up hatchery programs for various affected species; and building more habitat into the river by placing rocks and logs in areas to create habitat for fish and other species in the food chain. When you increase habitat you increase the rate of survival, says Clark.

"We want wild stocks if possible, not hatchery stock," he said. "The goal is to bring back the watershed, we’re trying not to look at one species verses another but to repair the watershed to what it was before the spill."

No costs have been attached to the spill or the recovery effort, but it will likely run into the millions. CN Rail has offered compensation to those who were affected by the spill, and committed to aiding the recovery effort.

There is still no word on what caused the derailment, although both the Ministry of Transportation and CN Rail are conducting their own investigations. Faulty track has already been ruled out as the cause.

Dave Brown of the Whistler Angling Club, as well as a member of sport fishing advisory groups and the Squamish representative of the South Coast Steelhead Coalition, says CN’s financial commitment is promising but is concerned that there is not enough urgency in remediation efforts.

"One concern I’ve raised is what we’re going to do to maximize the spawners that are left," said Brown. "There are plans in place for the Chinooks, but we don’t have funding in pace for the pinks, which were affected by the floods of 2003. To me this is something that CN can do, if they step up to the plate."

The collection of eggs for pink salmon will take place in the first week of September, which means that any recovery plan announced in mid-September may be too late.

"So far the level of interagency co-operation has been excellent, nobody is talking about costs, which is a good thing, and we have commitments from CN Rail to do the right thing, but some questions need to be answered right away. September seems fast to come up with a plan, and it is when you consider the number of stakeholders involved, but it’s too late for some species," said Brown.

Brown would also like to see more attention paid to the lower Squamish River. The impact of the spill was less there, but there are still reports of dead fish and distressed fish. One resident also got an acidity (pH) reading of 9.8 on the day of the spill, while Squamish Nation members on the river reported seeing fish jump out of the water onto the rocks.

As for the cost of remediation, Brown has already done some investigating. A similar train derailment in California, also carrying sodium hydroxide, almost wiped out the trout population in the Sacramento River in the early ’90s. That recovery effort cost $38 million U.S., and took the better part of a decade, "and it was really only a single species of fish, where we have five species of pacific salmon, steelhead, dolly varden, cutthroat tout, rainbow trout," said Brown.

"So far we’re seeing a lot of commitment to remediate this river, and it’s going to cost a lot. My role as a member of the Whistler Angling Club, as alternative chair of the Squamish-Lillooet Sport Fishery Advisory Committee, and a representative of the South Coast Steelhead Coalition – and as a concerned member of the public – is to help make sure we follow through on these commitments.

"It’s not going to be easy."