Sechelt Protesters Worry About Water Quality

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Logging threatens drinking water in Sechelt: protesters

(CBC) - More than 40 protesters blockaded a road in Sechelt, B.C., on Wednesday, saying logging in the Chapman Creek watershed threatens their water supply.

"It's notorious in B.C. for how bad it was logged. It's an unstable log," said Brad Benson, chair of the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association.

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He said his group will continue to hold rallies and block roads in the watershed this week to spread their message.

The watershed supplies drinking water to 23,000 residents on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast, north of Vancouver, and they're worried how logging will affect their water quality, he said.

The group wanted the Sunshine Coast Regional District board to issue a stop-work order to Western Forest Products, but the board said it won't do that unless there's concrete evidence that water quality is being compromised.

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Suzanne Senger, one of the protesters, said logging is happening next to creeks that eventually "lead into our watershed, straight down into the Chapman Creek."

Western Forest Products' chief forester, Kerry McGourlick, said the company is playing by the rules.

"The process for us to do our activity in the watershed, we started years ago," he said. "We've had public consultations and we've gone through all the regulatory processes."

Benson's association filed a complaint to the Sunshine Coast Regional District last week. Local authorities voted at a public hearing last week to investigate the forest company's logging plans.