(The following article by Mark Hume was posted on the Globe and Mail website on February 8.)
VANCOUVER, B.C. — The B.C. Wildlife Federation is calling on Canadian National Railway to put up to $20-million into the rehabilitation of the Cheakamus River, which was devastated last year when rail cars spilled caustic soda into the water.
Tony Toth, executive director of the BCWF, said yesterday that the important salmon river near Squamish, just north of Vancouver, will not recover without a major restoration project.
“The Cheakamus ecosystem is totally wrecked and, if nothing is done, we will present a barren river to the millions visiting British Columbia for the 2010 Olympics,” he said.
CNR recently contributed $1.25-million to restoration projects in the Squamish watershed, which includes the Cheakamus, but Mr. Toth dismissed that as totally inadequate. CN has come under increasing criticism from Squamish residents who say the river has been dead since four rail cars loaded with chemicals spilled their load into the river last August.