Hopington Aquifer, Brown's Pit and the Gateway Project

This blog was intended to feature stories relating to travel, however at this time my attention has been riveted on a site much closer to home - Brown’s Pit and the Hopington Aquifer. Water is a necessity of life and therefore anything that threatens our water supply is a threat against each of us who depend on the Hopington Aquifer for our water supply.

I have traveled to many places in the world and seen how people’s concerns about the environment are making a difference. The indigenous people of Taiwan took the responsibility to bring back depleted fish stocks; the native people of Borneo are replanting trees in the rainforest to replace the food sources for the animals that live in the corridors that run beside their river.

It makes me sad to know that in Canada our British Columbia government is basically ignoring our environmental concerns. They are not providing good environmental leadership. How can our provincial government claim to be “going green” when their big move has been to add two cents to our gas price! Get traffic moving so that we don’t use so much gas! Twinning the Port Mann Bridge has been discussed for years. Now we have the big plan for a new 10 lane bridge. How much longer will it take to get that one on the road?

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m in favour of a bridge that will meet the present and future needs of the Fraser Valley community. People who live out in the country don’t have access to public transportation, although we are expected to subsidize it. However, the need for that bridge has only been given lip service for many years, while commuters have been left to idle their engines on the Highway 1 parking lot for those many years.

With an election in the offing and federal money being offered the government is now going to move with a newer bigger plan – one 10 lane bridge. What happened to twinning I might ask? The plan includes widening Highway 1 east while the bridge is being done. Both ideas seem to be well received here in the Fraser Valley. Anything is better than nothing!

Now we come to materials to see this plan come to fruition. Gravel is a much needed commodity for construction anywhere and especially for road construction. Gravel is also worth big bucks to the construction industry. To the government, Brown’s Pitt became their obvious solution. It is just south of the freeway and could be reached by building off-on ramps at 240th St. between the 232nd and 264th exits. No further need to worry. Just get the ALR to remove the land from the agricultural land reserve, build a couple of on-off ramps and they would be in business. They say, “Anyone who might oppose our plan is not in favour of progress.”

But just wait a minute. We have a major environmental concern. Brown's Pit is on top of the Hopington Aquifer.

Brown's Pit, also know as the Brown Road Pit. is pastoral farmland located at 240th Street and 68th Avenue in Langley. It has been such for 46 years. It was part of the Agricultural Land Reserve. Beneath it lies the already over pumped and fragile Hopington Aquifer which supplies drinking water to the wells serving over 3000 homes over a large area of the Municipality of Langley. Studies completed as late as last year, in which this government was involved, classify it as one of the three most fragile aquifers in the province. Meaning that if it is not protected it could be destroyed! What would happen to all the people and animals that depend on that water for their homes? Where is the alternative water supply if removal of the gravel from Brown's Pit causes arsenic to leach into our water supply? Would the government pipe water in from somewhere else? Would you really believe that? That would involve big bucks again. Some people on piped municipal water currently may not realize that their water comes from community wells that get their water from the Hoppington Aquifer. Rich Colman sent us a letter telling us they are waiting for the results of a study that will be completed AFTER the election. Yes, but what about the studies already done stating that the Hoppington Aquifer is fragile, so gravel removal would be hazardous. Why are those studies being ignored? What are we supposed to do if their predictions come true?

Secondly even with the on-off ramps at 240th the multitude of gravel trucks would be traveling the freeway at all hours causing major disruptions in the traffic during those hours. Currently that area is one of the problem areas on Highway 1 east. Traffic is subject to frequent stoppages on a regular basis. Traffic frequently comes to a standstill between 232nd and 264th especially during rush “hour.” The so called “rush hour” is a misnomer. “Rush hour” on Highway 1 is no longer an hour, but is from 5:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. traveling west and heading east it conservatively from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. and maybe longer.

There is another more ecologically friendly alternative that does not appear to be considered. We have been told that the gravel could be barged along the Fraser River at a fraction of the cost and inconvenience – not disrupting traffic on Highway 1 to the same degree. It could be brought to site from either under the Port Mann Bridge or under the new Golden Ears Bridge which will open later this year. A mountain of gravel is being extracted from the Vedder Mountain. Gravel is now being barged to California from Sechelt and Texada Island. That option could not only save the project money, it would save some of the traffic congestion, which wastes fuel and time, but it would also help to save the Hopington Aquifer. When it comes to water v.s gravel – water has to take precedence every time. Water is a necessity of life.

B.C. citizens must let our government know that Brown’s Pit is not the ecologically friendly way to obtain gravel for the new bridge and freeway expansion. Abusing the Hopington Aquifer is not an option. Serious consideration must be given to other options including barging the gravel along the Fraser River. If it is cost effective for Californians to barge gravel from B.C. Why would it not make a lot of sense for that gravel to be used for B.C. construction purposes? As B.C. citizens we need to be confident that our government considers it their business to protect our water and our environment.