Brown's Pit and Hopington Aquifer Continued

For two days now, our legislature has discussed the proposed gravel removal at Brown's Pit above the Hopington Aquifer. Shane Simpson, the NDP Environmental Critic brought the subject up in question period during the afternoon session on March 24th. He addressed his question to the Liberal Environment Minister, Barry Penner who appeared to be unaware of the problem. His response was that he would look into it.

Giving the government 24 hours to get the information, Shane Simpson again brought the subject up again on March 25th. He stated that the Environment Minister should have been aware of the problem with mining over the Hopington Aquifer at Brown's Pit as the information had been delivered to him by several interested parties over a period of weeks, beginning in January and February and included a 309 signature petition.

The buck was then passed by Barry Penner, the Environment Minister to Kevin Falcon, the Minister of Highways. Who responded to each of the three NDP MLAs who spoke on the subject. His repeated response to each question was that his government would "make the decision with facts given to them by people who have a lot of expertise in the area." I am wondering how they pick and chose which of the experts that they hire are the ones they can listen to. They already have two studies produced by branches of their government that claim the Hopington Aquifer is fragile and should be protected. Now Falcon says they are waiting for a hydrologist's report. Tell me, does that report negate the two previously produced reports?

Is this a new policy of this government? I attended a meeting in Chilliwack on March 19th at which a series of experts stood up and declared that gravel mining on the Fraser River would do nothing for flood control but would seriously destroy gravel beds that are used by salmon, sturgeon and other fish to lay their eggs. The government has consistently ignored the advice of the experts who have filed reports advising them of this fact. If the government had taken the time to consult and listen to some of their own experts they might have made better choices for the location of their gravel dredging permits for the Fraser River bars. The only fish the government seems to be interested in are the red herrings they throw out to divert the attention of citizens from getting the facts.