SFU moves to protect Stoney Creek
Lee Gavel, 778.782.4743; lee_gavel@sfu.ca
Alan James, Stoney Creek Environment Committee, 604.420.0771; alan_james@handshake.ca
Stuart Colcleugh, PAMR, 778.782.3210; colcleugh@sfu.ca
Correction Appended
Simon Fraser University will spend more than $1 million to help protect Stoney Creek, one of the Lower Mainland’s most productive salmon and trout streams.
SFU will relocate the road-salt storage facility on its Burnaby campus and is altering its snow and ice removal practices to reduce salty runoff that could affect the creek. It will ask the provincial government for emergency funding to help complete the project.
The Stoney Creek Environment Committee, which has been lobbying to move the storage facility for more than five years, recently provided SFU with a report showing high conductivity levels in surface water.
SFU’s own research confirmed the high readings, which were attributed to salt migration through soil or in runoff water from the university’s salt storage shed on the south side of the campus.
“We have retained a consultant to review relocation options, plans and costs for relocating our storage and handling facility in order attempt to relocate it by the beginning of the 2009/10 winter season,” says Lee Gavel, SFU’s chief facilities officer and university architect.
“If that’s not possible prior to the 2009/10 season, we will implement the project for the 2010 season. And subsequent to the relocation we will dismantle the existing salt-handling facility and retain an environmental consultant to undertake soil sampling and drill test holes for environmental monitoring of salt in the soil to determine if remediation is necessary.”
Like its surrounding communities, SFU has historically applied salt to roads and walkways around campus during ice and snow to provide safe access for students, staff and the public to Burnaby Mountain.
Beginning with the fall 2009 ice/snow season, however, it will reduce its road salt application by 50 per cent through the use of a 50-50 mix of salt and sand on campus roads and parking lots.
And it will substitute alternative de-icing and abrasive products in place of salt on campus sidewalks, paths, landings, squares and stairs.
“We also intend to provide educational information to the university community concerning the impact of salt in the environment, to hopefully modify the expectation of the degree of snow-control for the roads and parking lots,” says Gavel.
“I can assure you that SFU treats its responsibilities for both public safety and environmental issues seriously and will continue to seek ways to reduce the impact on Stoney Creek.”
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Correction: May. 14, 2009
The original release did not mention the university will ask the provincial government for emergency funding to help complete the project.
Comments
Comment GuidelinesThanks for the tip to the report. Good work Vlad (I assume you are the author), but your sampling plan and data do not fit the conclusion you have jumped to. Your own data indicates the shed is not likely to be the source.
http://www.vcn.bc.ca/stoney/wq_report_2005.pdf
Your Map #2 shows concentrations increasing all the way up to sampling point #12, which is located at the same elevation as the salt shed, but is more than 300m to the east of the shed. It is extremely unlikely that the water from the salt shed is flowing 300m across the slope.
The inferred salinity of the creek (by your own analysis, sodium is only one of several potential sources of EC increases) is much more likely to be coming from runoff from Tower Road and the parking lots. Moving the salt shed is likely a complete waste of money. And what of the salt applied to University Drive and Gaglardi Way? Why no sampling downgradient of University Drive at Nelson Way? Why no sampling above and below Gaglardi Way where Stony Creek first crosses? You claim the Salt Shed is in the headwaters of tributary #2, but the Shed is at least 400 m from the nearest downgradient surface water, and that is Silver Creek, not Stoney Creek. What do you calculate the groundwater travel time is for salt-impacted water through the glacial till materials on Burnaby Mountain?
The office of Public Affairs and Media Relations is the author of this release.
Sorry, Vernonica, I was unclear. I was referring to the author of the water quality report.
If you check out the parking lot below the SFU salt shelter, the ground water from the hillside has left red/brown colored stains on the ground and is seeping over the curb and onto the road. This water has stable readings of specific conductivity well over the Ministry of Environment regulations. Most of the time the readings are around 2000 microsiemens, but there have been spikes with an order of magnitude and higher increase in the range of 20,000 - 22,000 microsiemens. By comparison, the Burrard inlet measures 38,000-44,000 microsiemens depending on depth. These instantaneous spikes are the most damaging. Furthermore, the high conductivity is accompanied by organic aromatic molecules, cyanide containing anti-caking agents, and other peculiar compound levels such as Strontium complexes that are significantly higher than would be accountable by mineral composition of the glacial till. Couple this with the fact that these effects accumulate from year to year, and we have a real problem. Each February from 2001 to 2009 the average specific conductivity from tributary 3A has gone up. You might wonder how it gets to tributary 3A if it's all the way at the salt shed and tributary 3A is approximately 300 meters east and downhill. The water below the salt shed travels down along the side of Nelson way to many Salmon-marked stormdrains that lead to the culvert below Nelson way and empty directly into Tributary 3A. I think the usage of salt could be completely replaced by a new product called EcoTraction developed recently and endorsed by the city of Chicago as their main road deicer. It's less expensive, has no ecological impacts, and is reusable. It baffles me that entire cities have not picked up on this.
There's a more recent report noting SFU has sealed the pavement around the salt-shed, so that should arrest the seepage. And we are indeed looking at things other than salt for de-icing on sidewalks, walkways stairs, etc. (I don't know if EcoTraction is one.)
The latest developments are at:
http://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/news/story_11050903.shtml
Don MacLachlan
Director, Public Affairs and Media Relations
Simon Fraser University
Vladimir
My congratulations! It's very good move in our long-long game - from 2001 to 2009.
Since you decided do not resist any more this issue and willing to clean up your very dirty footprints, do next step, please. Remove ASAP from SFU maintenance facility any employees who don't understand or don't want understand best/smart salt management practice. Start to be leader, not looser, of Best Road Salt Management Practice for BC and Canada. It's important not for 2010 Olympics only, but for many Canadian provinces which experiencing similar salt problem.
If SFU wont to be GREEN - spent efforts to prove it, but not in a words and paper only.
Best luck.