Burnaby streamkeepers are calling on CN to remediate a pond on Silver Creek, following the Jan. 11 train derailment that spilled 82.8 cubic metres of coal into the local waterway, an area deemed sensitive habitat for fish and wildlife.
The streamkeepers say a small pond in the Cariboo business park used to be clear but is now collecting silt, possibly from a construction site upstream, making it uninhabitable for the tiny salmon that were recently released in the area.
CN removed most of the coal and some soil along with it, making the pond a bit deeper than before.
"I see it as a compensation project for CN to excavate even further, deepening that pool to six feet or so, and bringing in some large, woody debris - stumps and large logs - so there's some place for the fish to hide out," said Alan James of the Stoney Creek Environment Committee.
John Preissl, who recently joined the Byrne Creek streamkeepers, would like to see more places for fry to hide from predatory birds, like herons and kingfishers.
"It's a small stretch of creek, but every inch of salmon ground is precious," Preissl said.
The City of Burnaby is also considering compensatory projects CN could take on to improve the habitat but is still reviewing the environmental impact assessment report from the railway company.
The NOW made a Freedom of Information request for the report, but the city maintains it's CN's document and won't release it, and CN failed to provide a copy of the report by NOW deadlines.
The spill left 82.8 cubic metres of coal in the creek, Burnaby Lake and further downstream in the Brunette River - of that, an estimated 81.4 cubic metres were considered recoverable. Nearly 400 cubic metres of coal and sediment were removed, but CN could not provide exact figures on how much coal was actually left behind, although spokesperson Emily Hamer said it was only "miniscule amounts."
No one from CN was available to discuss the possibility of remediating the pond.
