A letter from Scott Denkers, Communications Coordinator for World Rivers Day describes the City’s plan for a toxic waste site in a swamp beside a nature preserve along the banks of the Fraser River as “a dangerous and controversial proposal.”
Dear River Advocates,
While we won’t start our regular World Rivers Day promotional updates for a few months, I wanted to alert you to a dangerous and controversial proposal from the BC City of Chilliwack in which they’re proposing to allow the construction of a large toxic waste treatment plant on the banks of the Fraser, along one of the most productive stretches of river anywhere in the world. A link is included below to one of many local articles appearing on the issue and the proposal has drawn the ire of first nations, environmental and river groups and many, many citizens.
This issue is beginning to resonate with people not only in British Columbia but in other parts of the world. And while we all appreciate the importance of treating toxic waste, it’s the location of the plant that is so worrisome. Given the global significance of the Fraser and the fact that this proposal is completely inconsistent with any kind of precautionary approach to protecting the environment, I wanted to alert you in the hope you can pass on to others in your network. It’s also important to note there are other safer location alternatives away from the river. World Rivers Day chair and international river advocate, Mark Angelo, among others, recently spoke of their concerns to a packed, standing-room only audience in Chilliwack.
http://www.theprogress.com/news/241372541.html
Scott Denkers, Communications Coordinator
World Rivers Day
www.worldriversday.com
Background: Neither Sharon Nor Patty Are Environmentalists