August 06, 2005
Toxic Spill Wipes Out Lower Cheakamus River
A Canadian National Railways train derailed on a bridge over the Cheakamus River north of Squamish on Friday, Aug. 5, 2005.
According to the Provincial Emergency Program, "One car carrying a load of 53,140 litres of 73% sodium hydroxide, an extremely corrosive solution, ruptured and spilled into the Cheakamus River; which feeds the Squamish River system. This resulted in significant environmental impact and reports have been received of all-species fish kill downstream of the spill."
It appears that thousands if not tens of thousands of fish have been killed, including chinook salmon, coho salmon, chum salmon, steelhead, dolly varden, trout, sculpins, lamprey etc.
Yumi and I received a call for volunteers, so we drove up and helped collect and tally fish this afternoon at the Tenderfoot Creek Hatchery.
It was depressing work on a gorgeous sunny day. First we helped count and measure steelhead fry, and then we joined a recovery crew in the river. Here are a few photos:
Hard to believe, but that one Ziplock bag contained 240 steelhead fry ranging in size from 25 - 50mm.
Yumi looks at a beautiful chinook that a recovery crew brought in. Beneath it were a dolly varden and an early chum.
That's me in my chest waders in the Cheakamus, looking for dead fish.
There are more photos and info on the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation website.
Posted by Paul at August 6, 2005 09:32 PM