Subject: Nanaimo's cherished Colliery Dam Park
Date: 12 June, 2013 2:04:26 PM PDT
To: steve.thomson.mla@leg.bc.ca
Cc: premier@gov.bc.ca, Mayor&Council@nanaimo.ca, GeneralManagers@nanaimo.ca
Minister Thomson,
Congratulations on your reappointment by Premier Clark as Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
I'm hoping in these busy days of your new government I can draw something to your attention:
Something has gone terribly wrong in Nanaimo and the Dam Safety Branch which your Ministry oversees has found iteself embroiled in it — inadvertently and much to its regret I assume. In fact, I suspect that the DSB and City of Nanaimo Staff and City of Nanaimo Mayor and Council wish we could roll the clock back and take another run at this.
I know you're aware of all this: The residents of one of Nanaimo's oldest most established neighbourhoods, Harewood, have been told they will be losing their cherished Colliery Dam Park.
The Dam Safety Branch has informed the City the dams in the park must be taken down immediately. This, not surprisingly, has caused shock and fear in the community. The dams are over 100 years old and there has long been concern about them. We're told that there has been no discernible change in the structural integrity of the dams, and that there is no new geological or other data that indicates an increased likelihood of a major earthquake. But your Dam Safety Branch has informed the City the dams must be taken down immediately.
It has to be said (though it's understood this is not the concern (happily I can imagine you saying) of your Ministry) that this has not been handled well by Nanaimo's City Hall. You'll be aware that a decision was made by Council and Senior Staff to make the original decision to remove the dams in-camera without consultation with the neighbourhood. What you may not know is what this park means to Nanaimo's south-end neighbourhoods (and the whole city certainly). A visit to the Facebook page SAVE the Colliery Dams would give you a glimpse.
You'll also no doubt be aware this is escalating quickly and that the City has sought a injunction against citizen protest even before any such protest has taken place, further damaging the badly needed trust and open communications between our City Hall and Nanaimo citizens.
So Minister, I have no idea what you might be able to do here but I appreciate the chance to bring it to your attention in the hope that there remains a solution which protects public safety of course, but also respects community concerns and repairs damage done to Nanaimo's "civic fabric".
Frank Murphy
5 comments:
"the dams risk as stated is the same today, yesterday, five years ago and five years from now it does not change. time to make good decisions is all we need and the ability to do one at a time, reduce the middle dam threat and keep trust, community assets and relationships." —Nanaimo City Councillor Jim Kipp
Here's the follow up Councillor Jim Kipp sent to Minister Thomson. He still hasn't received answers to these questions from the Dam Safety Branch
• was the DSB aware of councils motion to review options for removal, remediation or reconstruction and if so when was this?
• did the DSB consider any of these options prior to the DSB letter to council May 9?
• did the DSB at any time advise the City of Nanaimo that council may be held personally accountable for a form of gross negligence?
• further to these since the May dates more questions have arisen regarding licensing for removal, licensing and approvals for reconstruction, hydro generation??
• also, two more of the more compelling questions now emerge. is the removal of the water in the middle dam as proposed not an acceptable mitigation? is the response and recovery mitigation planning as recognized by EMBC not recognized by the DSB and if so why not?
From: Jim Kipp
Subject: Re: Nanaimo's cherished Colliery Dam Park
Date: 12 June, 2013 3:11:56 PM PDT
To: "steve.thomson.mla@leg.bc.ca"
Cc: "premier@gov.bc.ca" , Frank Murphy
Minister Thomson
further to Mr. Frank Murphy's letter embedded, I hope to get some assistance from your offices.
I had requested information for my decisions as an elected councillor, one that may be unfettered by local influence, thus I contacted the DSB regarding this very contentious community issue, and to date from my last attempt back in May,2013 no response. interestingly when our staff calls we receive document letters within hours with which members of council make decisions.
putting aside the no response and I understand that the DSB is not accountable to myself but your office to some extent is. to that end i would appreciate your offices review of some of the information in this email and the greater issue of the Colliery dams in Nanaimo.
I have embedded my inquiry request to Mr. Scott Morgan for your information and would ask the following questions: was the DSB aware of councils motion to review options for removal, remediation or reconstruction and if so when was this? did the DSB consider any of these options prior to the DSB letter to council May 9? did the DSB at any time advise the City of Nanaimo that council may be held personally accountable for a form of gross negligence? further to these since the May dates more questions have arisen regarding licensing for removal, licensing and approvals for reconstruction, hydro generation??
also, two more of the more compelling questions now emerge. is the removal of the water in the middle dam as proposed not an acceptable mitigation? is the response and recovery mitigation planning as recognized by EMBC not recognized by the DSB and if so why not?
my concerns are the process, communications and validity of the fact based decisions made from this process, provincial demands and foremost now is the summer of discontent, protest, injunctions and arrests that will have really bad publicity.
the dams risk as stated is the same today, yesterday, five years ago and five years from now it does not change. time to make good decisions is all we need and the ability to do one at a time, reduce the middle dam threat and keep trust, community assets and relationships.
i am willing to attend Victoria to address any of these concerns with your office
Jim Kipp
Mr. Scott Morgan
Please help clear up a few issues for me. Much confusion exists regarding the Colliery dams and I am a little concerned with what has transpired since I talked to you on Monday the 13 th. and today's date as we await another letter from you as I understand has been directed by our city staff.
In my conversation with you I outlined the current status of emergency response, recovery, planning and preparedness mitigation that the city has done since your January 21 st letter. Again a requested by city staff, three months after the October in camera council resolution and that time frame indicated no extreme rush to me.
Further, during our conversation I discussed the work that has been done on rehabilitation, replacement, reconstruction options that to my surprise you were not aware of or had not considered any of these issues with regards to mitigation and community efforts.
Further to my dismay and concern, is that your late submission on Monday was not based on the current information, ambiguous and left the leeway of offering not other forms of mitigation yet was a fear factor for some on council.
Then the daily news article today that staff have advised you of... I await your response and just forget the note below.
Jim Kipp
Scott
If the DSB knew of our alternatives about 8 ideas that are proven would your reconsider the removal.
We, council, got your late letter today that discusses other remediation, they exist...
Jim kipp
This form letter email was sent out in response to questions and concerns directed to the Dam Safety Branch's Scott Morgan — "The City of Nanaimo has posted a comprehensive set of documents, reports and other materials that should answer any remaining questions you may have."
From: "Morgan, Scott FLNR:EX"
Subject: FW: 198293 FW: Nanaimo's cherished Colliery Dam Park
Date: 14 June, 2013 2:08:03 PM PDT
To: "'frankmurphy@shaw.ca'"
Dear Mr. Murphy,
Thank you for your e-mail expressing concern about the Middle and Lower Chase River (Colliery) dams. As you are aware, the City of Nanaimo has decided to replace the existing dams due to the unacceptable public safety risks they pose. This is an acceptable option to the province.
Under the Water Act’s Dam Safety Regulation, the province is responsible for ensuring that all dams in the province meet acceptable safety standards. Dam owners are responsible for addressing known safety concerns and carrying out the work needed to address such concerns and ensuring planned work is acceptable to the province.
In the case of the Chase River Dams, a dam safety review revealed a potential safety hazard. Last fall the dam owner (City of Nanaimo) notified our office that they were preparing a plan that identifies actions to correct the potential safety hazard. The City, as dam owner, is in the process of producing these plans for our approval under either Section 4 and/or Section 9 of the Regulation.
There has been much speculation that the dams could potentially remain intact for another year. In the interests of public safety, the only practical way this could happen is if the dams were drained. There are approximately 1,800 people living in the potential flood zone below these dams. Professional assessments (2012 Associated Engineering Inundation Study) carried out on behalf of the City of Nanaimo indicate that there is a very high probability of an extreme dam failure and estimate that between 85 and 150 people would be killed.
The requirement for dam owners to prepare a plan to correct potential safety hazards is outlined in Section 7.1 of the BC Dam Safety Regulation found at:http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/10_44_2000
The City of Nanaimo has posted a comprehensive set of documents, reports and other materials that should answer any remaining questions you may have.
http://www.nanaimo.ca/EN/main/departments/Engineering-Public-Works/CollieryDamProject.html
Sincerely,
Scott Morgan
Head, Dam Safety Section
Water Management | Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations
PO BOX 9340 STN PROV GOVT Victoria BC V8W 9M1
scott.morgan@gov.bc.ca
www.env.gov.bc.ca/wsd/public_safety/dam_safety/
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