Thirty two years ago, Highlands residents decided it was time to take the future of their community into their own hands. Faced with never-ending pressure to develop, residents began the process to incorporate as a municipality with the power to determine how, where and what development occurred. In December, 1993 the District of Highlands was born, with the vision of maintaining a thriving greenspace on the outskirts of Victoria providing recreational opportunities as well natural services to the greater community. Fast forward 28 years and the District is faced with a strip mine on Millstream Road and at least sixteen years of blasting and rock crushing on land zoned Greenbelt. All this next to an existing contaminated site where there is already leaching into surrounding areas, in a community reliant on ground water. How could this happen?
OK Industries (OKI), an aggregate mining and asphalt company, bought the property from the Provincial Government in 2015. The company approached the District of Highlands with plans to develop a strip mine for the extraction of rock to be crushed into gravel. Council turned down the application to have the land rezoned from Greenbelt to Industrial. OKI then applied to the Mines Ministry for a mine permit to cover 44 acres of mature Douglas fir forest reaching from Millstream Road to Thetis Lake Park. Despite strong opposition from the Highlands District Community Association (HDCA), 1000 Highland residents who signed a petition opposing the mine and over 9000 signatures on a change.org petition, the mine permit was granted in March 2020.Work on the mine began in January 2021.
The issues of concern are many, including:
- Potential ground water contamination for local residents, and contamination of surface water in Thetis Lake and Millstream Creek (where tens of thousands of dollars have recently been spent to enhance habitat for returning salmon)
- Destruction of an intact forest – a carbon sink vitally important in climate change mitigation – to be replaced by years of blasting and rock crushing.
- Loss of wildlife and habitat through destruction of a 44 acre forest ecosystem
- Court decisions which allow private interests to override communities’ rights to determine land use within their jurisdiction.
- Decades of noise and dust that will impact once tranquil neighbourhoods.
Opposition to the mine continues. The District of Highlands and the HDCA have launched legal action – both are awaiting decisions from the courts. A residents’ group, Not Ok Strip Mine has formed to bear witness to the destruction taking place and to continue the fight through direct action. Roadside protests at the mine site are held daily.
Are there reasons for anyone living beyond Highlands’ borders to be concerned? The original vision of Highlands as the greenspace and lungs of the Victoria area has certainly been realized. Highlands is a place used and loved by people throughout the Capital Region. Victoria area residents throng to its approximately 4000 acres of park for hiking, mountain biking, bird watching, finding a place to reconnect with the natural world. Its importance as a place of refuge was never more clear than during the past year of the covid pandemic.
The approval of this mine however, has implications far beyond regional residents’ recreational activities. The issue of local autonomy over land use, particularly in relation to mines, impacts small communities throughout the province. Project neighbours and local communities should have the right to veto projects unless there is an overriding public interest proven through public hearings. Small mines, such as the OKI mine, operating under a certain threshold are not subject to the BC Environmental Assessment Process. As a result, the cumulative effect of climate impact and ecosystem loss and fragmentation escape scrutiny. B.C.’s Mines Act and the interpretation of it through the courts are in fact out of step with the rest of the country, leaving B.C. communities far more vulnerable to the imposition of such projects than communities in other jurisdictions. Climate change, the largest environmental issue of the day was not considered to be an issue of significance in the granting of the permit. Like the continued logging of old growth forests, this decision is indicative of policies and legislation developed under an old paradigm in which resource extraction was the driving value. With humanity now facing the multiple crises of species extinction, biodiversity loss and the climate emergency, all voices are urgently needed to demand changes to the legislative and judicial system in which resource extraction takes place.
June 5 is World Environment Day, the United Nations day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment. In recognition of the day, Not Ok Strip Mine members are taking their protest to Thetis Park to broaden awareness of the destruction taking place on the parks’ western border. Group members will be available from 10:00 – noon to talk with park visitors and will have information flyers to hand out. Come and learn more about the mine and how you can add your voice to the protest. Call or write Premier John Horgan (john.horgan.mla@leg.bc.ca tel: 250 390 2801) and come join the protest line at the mine site. For more information contact notokinhighlands@gmail.com or see the Facebook page Not Ok Strip Mine. Many voices create change!
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Libby McMinn is a long time Highlands resident and member of Not Ok Strip Mine, a grass roots organization protesting the development of OK Industries’ strip mine in the District of Highlands.