Jordan River mine contamination slated for cleanup


French Beach, near Jordan River (Photo: Holly Pattison)

French Beach, near Jordan River (Photo: Holly Pattison)

When Ken Farquharson came to the ELC in early 2012, the possibility of restoring Jordan River to a salmon-bearing stream seemed bleak. As a public member on BC Hydro’s coastal fish and wildlife compensation program, Ken was working with others to restore salmon runs in rivers on Vancouver Island. But no one was taking action to determine the responsible party to clean up the long-term copper mine contamination in Jordan River.

The work of ELC helped to identify the responsible party and led to government ordering a remediation plan in August 2016. It now looks realistic to hope that the historic salmon runs of five to ten thousand fish will now be restored.

In a letter to the ELC, Ken wrote, “I believe that improvements to the Jordan River at last underway, but without the effective involvement of the ELC in determining the company responsible for the contamination, no progress would have been made.”

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