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Citizens Concerned about Coalbed Methane - Vancouver Island |
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For these reasons - potential impacts on watersheds, salmon, agriculture, tourism, resettlement desirability and land values - the consequences of coalbed methane development on the island need to be fully understood before it is allowed to proceed.
The east coast of Vancouver Island from Campbell River to south of Nanaimo sits on top of two sizable coalfields - the Comox Coalfield and the Nanaimo Coalfield. Where there's coal, there is very likely to be coalbed methane. And the methane can be produced as an economic product, put into pipelines and sold as natural gas. The east coast of Vancouver Island is also a series of watersheds. Each watershed is a complex interplay of rain and snow, groundwater, aquifers, streams and rivers. For most, the complexity is still largely unknown. What is known, however, is that many of the watersheds are stressed, or may soon be.
The impacts of human settlement and exploitation have damaged nature's perfect hydrological balance. And salmon, for which all these streams are, or were, home, are perhaps the most important species to fall victim. The east coast of Vancouver Island is also home to some of the richest agriculture in British Columbia, and it is increasingly a destination for tourists and resettlement. Coalbed methane production has severe and extensive impacts on the land and requires the relocation of huge volumes of water. For these reasons alone - potential impacts on watersheds, salmon, agriculture, tourism, resettlement desirability and land values - the consequences of coalbed methane development on the island needs to be fully understood before it is allowed to proceed. That is why the Citizens Concerned About Coalbed Methane - Vancouver Island was formed. |
