No shortage of murky water issues in White Rock - literally and figuratively

White Rock resident Beverly McLaughlin took this photo of the water in her washing machine last fall. She said "aesthetically, it's very unpleasing." On June 5, there were more reports of dark-coloured water coming from the taps in White Rock homes.

Just when you think the White Rock water utility takeover couldn’t get any murkier, it does – both literally and, more importantly, figuratively.

In just one week, the public learned that (yet again) the water is cloudy and disgusting to look at; the federal government has moved in to help Semiahmoo First Nation get clean water and get out of any dealings with White Rock’s water system; and the city and Metro Vancouver are pulling out all the stops in court to keep every possible detail of the takeover of the water system secret.

The dirty water story came from Coldicutt Avenue resident Derek Sigurdson. He was leaving his house June 5 when he was stopped by a neighbour carrying a glass of brown water.

“He said, ‘does your water look like this?’” Sigurdson told Peace Arch News. “I said no and he said, ‘I think you’d better check.’”
When Sigurdson ran his taps, what he saw was enough to make him take pictures and video, which can be seen at www.peacearchnews.com, of what was running into his sink.
“It was absolutely disgusting – it looked like coffee,” he said. “We’ve experienced turbidity in the water before… but this is the worst I’ve seen it.”

On Friday, June 9, Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, came to Semiahmoo Park to announce $338,000 will go toward the design of a new water-distribution and wastewater sewer system for Semiahmoo First Nation. This comes after the SFN residents have been on a boil-water advisory since 2005.

It is part of a broader federal initiative to improve water systems for many First Nations.

Bennett’s visit Friday marked the first time an indigenous affairs minister had ever visited the Semiahmoo First Nation.

The design will detail how SFN can connect to the Surrey water system, which in turn is part of the Metro Vancouver water system. White Rock gave notice last year that it would cut off SFN’s access to its separate water system within 18 months, showing an appalling lack of neighbourliness.

Semiahmoo First Nation Chief Harley Chappell said “We are currently at 99 per cent of the redesign, and we are working with our neighbouring municipalities.”
Bennett noted that “Hooking up to a municipal service allows for fire hydrants and the potential for new subdivision, and allows for a comprehensive plan for the vision of that (SFN) community.”

This could mean extensive development of the SFN lands in the future. The reserve lands stretch all along the oceanfront from near Finlay Street to the U.S. border, and include all lands west of Highway 99 and south of 8 Avenue. In today's overheated real estate market, that land has enormous financial potential and a development where home buyers lease land from SFN, as is the case on Musqueam lands in Vancouver, could turn out to be very lucrative for the Semiahmoo people.

Perhaps the most troubling story about the White Rock water system was one stating that both the City of White Rock and Metro Vancouver are fighting an order by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) to release documents related to the sale of the water utility to White Rock by Epcor, a private company owned by the City of Edmonton.

The two government entities are asking for more than simply a judicial review of release of material – they’re also asking that ‘in-camera’ (non-public) material be sealed during the judicial-review process.
The city’s lawyers are also asking for an order that submissions to the court from both the petitioner and the respondents – OIPC and resident Ross Buchanan, whose original freedom-of-information request triggered the fight over releasing the documents – be filed in-camera.

This is an appalling attempt to have details which should come out in court kept secret, and is eerily similar to the way court proceedings are conducted in dictatorships. It needs to be vigorously challenged. White Rock and Metro Vancouver should withdraw their poorly-thought out attempts to keep any aspect of court proceedings secret.