The silt will build up again in Ladner Harbour and the Fraser River's secondary channels, but there's no money set aside to deal with that eventuality.
That bit of news was one of many issues covered during a media roundtable with Delta-Richmond East MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay, who's the minister of national revenue, and her guest, Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea, at Findlay's constituency office in Ladner Monday. After years of lobbying by the Ladner Sediment Group to have local channels of the river cleared, dredgers finally got to work last month on a $10-million project, a collaboration between Port Metro Vancouver, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, the Corporation of Delta and the City of Richmond.
The project was also supposed to include funds for maintenance dredging for up to the next 10 years, but now it looks like there won't be enough money for that component.
Findlay explained Monday the original cost estimates included money for ongoing dredging contingency funding, however, the amount of sediment build-up turned out to be much higher than expected. Adding to the cost was the discovery of certain pockets that had toxicity, so that sediment has to be barged further away and not dumped at the mouth of the river with the rest of the material.
That means the $10 million budget will be entirely used but for the first round of dredging.
"The issue of maintenance dredging going forward is going to have to be a topic for another day," said Findlay. "As you know, the dredging just started a couple of weeks ago and we're very pleased to see it start. It was an overarching issue in the riding and continues to be."
Shea, who has been touring the province since last week to discuss fisheries issues, and Findlay had a busy schedule following the media roundtable, meeting with members of the Richmond and Delta chambers of commerce, followed by a closed-door roundtable back at Findlay's office with members of the local fishing community, scientists and Mayor Lois Jackson.
Noting 2010 saw a record sockeye run for B.C.'s fishing industry, Shea said there's a lot of confidence in the industry moving forward.
She noted most of the 75 recommendations by the Cohen Commission were directed at her department and those recommendations are being implemented, including further investment in habitat restoration, continuing a moratorium on new fish farms in certain areas of the province, as well as more scientific research on the interaction between farmed and wild fish.
Asked for her response regarding complaints from environmental groups that the DFO will be significantly weakened with the federal government supposedly watering down the environmental assessment process, Shea said she doesn't see that as the case. She said the process has been simplified, but larger projects will always be subject to rigorous reviews. When asked if the BNSF Railway Company's plan to construct additional siding in North Delta must undergo an environmental review due to its proximity to Cougar Creek, Shea said she needs to see details of that proposal. Delta has called for a review under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
