Document Actions
Issues and Campaigns
No Gas on the Dyke campaign
On Friday, July 2, the B.C. Court of Appeals handed down its decision rejecting Sierra Club Canada’s request to invalidate the Development Permit issued in March, 2007 by the CVRD for the proposed Gas N Go station on the Dyke Road.
“The news was disappointing, but not totally unexpected," said Sierra Comox Valley chair Mike Bell. "We have been preparing for this eventuality for some months.”
Bell stressed the importance of placing the court decision in perspective.
“People are concerned about the potential environmental damage. The site is in an ecologically sensitive area, in an earthquake zone, on a flood plain and on highly unstable ground. It is less than 60 meters from the feeding grounds of migrating salmon. It is in a Canadian Important Bird Area, the second most important estuary for migrating birds in B.C. But the court case didn’t deal with any of these concerns,” said Bell.
Read the story in the Comox Valley Record.
The Gas N Go station poses real risks to the environment. The site is in the middle of a Canadian Important Bird Area with the second highest concentration of over-wintering waterfowl in B.C. including Trumpeter Swans. The area provides an essential habitat for threatened species, endemic species and has an exceptional concentration of birds.
“We will be turning to the community to provide financial support through our newly created Courtenay River Estuary Legal Fund,” said Bell. “This estuary and watershed is much more important to our community than another gas station.”
Sierra Comox Valley would like to acknowledge our friends at West Coast Environmental Law who have given us financial support for our legal fees both for the initial court case and the appeal. Thank you West Coast Environmental Law and the Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund!
To find out more about our campaign against the Raven Coal Mine, click here.
No Gas on the Dyke story
In early 2008, the Comox Valley Regional District issued a development permit allowing a businessman to develop a gas station on the Dyke Road that runs along the edge of the estuary.
The development permit allows a gas station to be built right in the middle of a high-risk earthquake area, only a few metres from the Courtenay River estuary - an ecologically sensitive area designated a Canadian “Important Bird Area”.
The proposed gas station, overwhelmingly opposed by Comox Valley residents, poses an unacceptable risk to the area’s ecology and might increase the risk of traffic accidents.
In August, Sierra Club of Canada took legal action to protect the estuary. In January 2010, the Supreme Court of BC ruled in favour of the regional district.
"We are disappointed but not discouraged" said Mike Bell, chair of Sierra Comox Valley. "Our ultimate goal is to protect and preserve the Courtenay River Estuary. In this light the court decision is just a speed bump along the way."
The Courtenay River Estuary has the second highest concentration of over-wintering waterfowl in BC, including the Trumpeter Swan, and has been designated a Canadian “Important Bird Area”—a site providing essential bird habitat that contains threatened species, endemic species and a highly exceptional concentration of birds.
- The Courtenay River Estuary shown above has been designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) in Canada
Raven Coal Mine
Compliance Energy Compliance Energy and partners are proposing a new coal mine on Vancouver Island. The Raven Underground Coal Project would be located in the Tsable River watershed between Parksville and Courtenay.
The mine is projected to produce 2.2 million tonnes of coal per year, mostly for Asian markets.
Two major concerns stand out for Comox residents: impact on the watershed, including salmon-spawning streams, and soaring greenhouse gas emissions. For each tonne of coal extracted, two tonnes of CO2 will be released into the atmosphere!
