Re: contamination, Sonia Furstenau, Citizen, Friday, Dec. 4.
Thank you Sonia, and thank you to the people of your area, Shawnigan Lake.
The following excerpts are taken from my letter to the then Minister of Environment Terry Lake, printed in the Cowichan Valley Citizen Friday, Sept. 28, 2012.
“I held a new baby girl in my arms today...I am deeply moved...I am all stirred up. Greg Brown could sing the words far better than I can say them at this moment: ‘...neck deep in disaster, I still love this place. Mercy, mercy, mercy, tears on the face...’
“...the double load trucks are still rolling...into the old Evans Redi-Mix site...they go to the sink hole at the far back (nearer to the creek bank now, 2015) to (outlandishly) dump their loads of contaminated soil into the gravel bed over Cowichan Valley aquifers and adjacent to Kelvin Creek and the Koksilah River...Some of us talk about drinking water for humans. Some of us talk about what we humans keep doing to the life blood of every living thing.”
I re-submit these same words without changes, more than three years later, because nothing has been done to change this state of affairs,. As far as we know, no samples have been taken from the four water monitoring wells located on the site. There is, however, a brand new, imported water system in place for the human community most likely to be impacted by these operations, presumably.
Of course we weep and weep.
We, Kelvin Creek, the Koksilah River, the bay, on and on out to sea and all the creatures large and small in between, with and without voices, thank you for your voices, your will, your stand and, especially, for your hearts.
Juanita and Alex Haddad
Cowichan Valley