Mill Bay - Tuesday's federal budget added another $99.6 million to clean up contaminated sites, which are already slated to cost Canadian taxpayers almost $7 billion in clean up costs, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office.
Some of these funds could be used to move contaminated soil from Esquimalt Harbour to B.C.'s proposed new toxic soil treatment site above Shawnigan Lake. Shawnigan is a provincially designated community drinking water source for 12,000 local residents.The proposed new contaminated site will supposedly protect ground and surface water with a synthetic liner, rated to last 35 years.The government better budget another billion for the inevitable future costs to clean up the current "clean up", plus legal costs for the argument about which level of government is responsible. Billions more may be needed for future health care costs resulting from the release of carcinogens into a community drinking water source.Blaise SalmonMill Bay