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 * click on left arrow above to see photos; click on button titled "FOI excerpts" to see documents  
 

Why oppose industrial rezoning of 3659 Sooke Rd?

 

If you are visiting this site, chances are you share our commitment to strong environmental protection in Metchosin. 

 

Any proposed development in Metchosin should be undertaken in a careful, respectful and environmentally sensitive manner. There’s no reason to expect anything less.

 

3659 Sooke Rd. has been the site of serious contraventions of local bylaws and BC's Environmental Management Act.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What kind of environmental infractions?

 illegal burning of demolition materials: Freedom of Information (FOI) documents reveal that in 2016 and 2017, Metchosin's Fire Department responded to three unattended, illegal burns on the property.

A Metchosin Fire Department memo describes one 2016 fire as "a massive open garbage burn" 200' x 40' feet in size. The memo states: "As there are no public water sources in the area, we had to shuttle water in from a Sooke Road hydrant in Langford (Slegg Lumber)." FOI file number 1310-19

 

It submitted an invoice to the District for costs incurred extinguishing the fire: $7050.00. FOI records show that the landowner never reimbursed these costs ... it appears they were shouldered by Metchosin taxpayers.

CRD Bylaw sent a letter to Tri-X Excavating Ltd. in 2017 about the illegal depositing of "large volumes of demolition waste" on the property. The letter noted "three documented attendances at this property for fires in relation to demolition material burning." FOI file number 1310-20

 illegal waste disposal (in contravention of the Province's Environmental Management Act):  The Ministry of Environment sent TriX Group a warning letter in 2017 following an investigation of the property.

 

The MoE letter says that the site "contains piles of refuse originating from residential, commercial, institutional, demolition, land-clearing and/or construction sources that are being managed, treated, and or/discharged .... In addition to the unauthorized air emissions from burning at this site, leachate and surface water run-off are typical discharges of this type of prescribed activity as precipitation on and through the wastepiles discharges into the ground or overland as unauthorized and untreated discharges." MOE-2019-97075

The warning letter notes that a contravention of this magnitude can carry a fine "not exceeding $1 000 000 or imprisonment for not more than 6 months, or both." MOE-2019-97075

 illegal dumping: in 2019 the District of Metchosin ticketed the landowner $1000 for illegal dumping. In 2020, the landowner was again found in violation of Soil Deposit & Removal Bylaw. FOI file number 1310-21-06

 unauthorized use of property for commercial/industrial activities:  images from a Hwy 14 webcam suggest that in 2021 the property owner was continuing to operate a business on land not zoned for such activity. Formal complaints registered with the District have been backed up with webcam evidence of dump truck traffic, container trucks, and even what appears to be a vacuum truck entering and leaving the property. FOI file number 1310-19

We're working to update the information on this site ...

Please keep checking back.

 

   Background 

May, 2019: Metchosin Council received an application from Tri-X for a Temporary Use Permit (TUP) proposing a “soil recycling” facility at 3659 Sooke Road.

September 2019: the applicant withdrew their TUP application.

MetchosinH20 actively opposed that TUP proposal. Why?

  • The proposed industry did not align with Metchosin’s OCP.

  • There would be nothing “temporary” about the impacts such an industrial operation could have on the environment. It posed risks to the Bilston Watershed and Aquifer #606.

  • The applicant's violations of local bylaws exemplify the District's challenges with bylaw enforcement. Metchosin has failed to achieve enduring compliance with its bylaws at this site. So how could it possibly monitor and enforce industrial operations? 

     Want to read the two letters of             opposition submitted by              

     metchosinH20 in 2019?

 

     Click on the buttons below:

 

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