seanps
08-22-2010, 12:06 AM
Link to full story, from today's Globe and Mail: http://bit.ly/cedVwa
Five years after disastrous B.C. spill, the Cheakamus River teems with life
Five years after a huge caustic soda spill, the river is recovering well
GLOBE AND MAIL -- A big chinook salmon breaks the pale green surface of the Cheakamus River just below the Canadian National Railway Co. track that skirts the water’s edge.
Just five years ago – in the immediate aftermath of a CN derailment close to Squamish that wiped out life in the river – such a sight would have been impossible. Scientists at that time predicted it would take half a century or more before the salmon and other fish returned to the river in abundance again.
“It’s good to see the fish here,” says Randall Lewis, the environmental co-ordinator for the Squamish Nation, who grew up fishing and hunting in this watershed. He recalls a different scene on this river: the sight of pink salmon jumping out of the water to escape a toxic plume, while rainbow trout gasped on the banks, their eyes bulging as they died.
Standing on a shoreline logjam constructed to provide fish habitat, tiny salmon now dart about just below his feet; mayflies hatch on the water as a blue heron patrols the opposite bank, scanning the shallows for fish.
The river is teeming with life, which is all the more remarkable considering the Aug. 5, 2005 derailment in the upper reaches of the Cheakamus, which released about 40,000 litres of caustic soda, killing most of the free-swimming creatures as the chemical swept to sea. At least 500,000 fish – including five species of salmon, bull trout, and resident rainbow and cutthroat trout – were wiped out, including multiple generations of steelhead, the legendary trophy predators of this watershed
... Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/five-years-after-disastrous-bc-spill-the-cheakamus-river-teems-with-life/article1680797/
Five years after disastrous B.C. spill, the Cheakamus River teems with life
Five years after a huge caustic soda spill, the river is recovering well
GLOBE AND MAIL -- A big chinook salmon breaks the pale green surface of the Cheakamus River just below the Canadian National Railway Co. track that skirts the water’s edge.
Just five years ago – in the immediate aftermath of a CN derailment close to Squamish that wiped out life in the river – such a sight would have been impossible. Scientists at that time predicted it would take half a century or more before the salmon and other fish returned to the river in abundance again.
“It’s good to see the fish here,” says Randall Lewis, the environmental co-ordinator for the Squamish Nation, who grew up fishing and hunting in this watershed. He recalls a different scene on this river: the sight of pink salmon jumping out of the water to escape a toxic plume, while rainbow trout gasped on the banks, their eyes bulging as they died.
Standing on a shoreline logjam constructed to provide fish habitat, tiny salmon now dart about just below his feet; mayflies hatch on the water as a blue heron patrols the opposite bank, scanning the shallows for fish.
The river is teeming with life, which is all the more remarkable considering the Aug. 5, 2005 derailment in the upper reaches of the Cheakamus, which released about 40,000 litres of caustic soda, killing most of the free-swimming creatures as the chemical swept to sea. At least 500,000 fish – including five species of salmon, bull trout, and resident rainbow and cutthroat trout – were wiped out, including multiple generations of steelhead, the legendary trophy predators of this watershed
... Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/five-years-after-disastrous-bc-spill-the-cheakamus-river-teems-with-life/article1680797/