Download Why Do We Need To Restore Clio Bay?

CLIO BAY RESTORATION PROJECT
Why do we need to restore Clio Bay?
Clio Bay in Kitimat Arm is an important site
where Haisla people and local residents
traditionally crabbed and fished as a way of
life.
Over the years, the logs decomposed,
generating wood debris that sunk to the
bottom of the Bay.
Today, about 40 percent of the bottom of
Clio Bay is covered with wood debris. On the
bottom of Clio Bay, wood debris is stacked up
to 10 metres in places.
Source: Kitimat Museum & Archives. Edythe McClure Collection. Canoe steaming,
Kitimaat Village, circa 1941.
To support British Columbia’s growing
economy, Clio Bay was used as a place to sort
and store logs in logbooms.
As a result, there is less soft ocean floor area
in Clio Bay, and this has shifted ecosystems
and reduced habitat for species such as
eelgrass and Dungeness crab.
Chevron Canada is working with DFO Science
and the Haisla Nation to propose an innovative
approach to the situation – an option that
delivers net benefits to the environment,
community and culture.
Source: Kitimat Museum & Archives. Northern Sentinel Press Ltd. Collection.
Logs being loaded into river tow carrier, Kitimat, 1968.
Kitimat LNG
To ask questions or give feedback, email
[email protected]
www.kitimatlngfacility.com
CLIO BAY RESTORATION PROJECT
How did the project come about?
The Clio Bay Restoration Project is a result of
innovative minds coming together.
About seven years ago, Kitimat LNG began
looking at suitable sites for a liquefied natural
gas facility.
Bish Cove soon emerged as a front-runner.
Located on Haisla Indian Reserve #6, Bish
Cove features a deep-water port, industrial
zoning, and proximity to service centres.
Scientists and engineers soon found the earth
in certain areas at the Bish Cove site to be
too unstable to build a LNG processing facility.
With up to 30 metres of marine clay, it was
clear some of the clay material would have to
be removed to build a safe, secure facility.
Working with the Haisla Nation, as well as
marine biologists, ecologists and scientists
from the federal Department of Fisheries and
Oceans (DFO), Chevron identified a number of
options for dealing with the clay.
But it was the Haisla who envisioned the
ideal outcome. Haisla leaders saw a solution
that would help address Chevron’s marine
clay challenge and, at the same time, could
deliver lasting benefits to the local community,
environment and culture.
The Clio Bay Restoration Project has been
identified as the best option to relocate marine
clay excavated from the Kitimat LNG site at Bish
Cove because it is the only option that delivers a
net benefit to the environment.
MARINE CLAY
Marine clay is a naturally occurring, mineral mud
found in coastal regions around the world. In
northern locations like the Kitimat area, mineral clay
is the result of melting glaciers that disappeared
thousands of years ago. In the past, project
proponents often dredged and disposed of marine
clay. Today it is viewed as a valuable material with
beneficial uses.
Kitimat LNG
To ask questions or give feedback, email
[email protected]
www.kitimatlngfacility.com
CLIO BAY RESTORATION PROJECT
How will the project work?
Together, Chevron, the Haisla Nation, DFO and
other scientists developed a project proposal.
First, marine clay would be excavated from the
Kitimat LNG processing facility site at Bish
Cove.
The marine clay would be laid down to blanket
the decomposing wood debris on the ocean
floor.
The new, soft ocean floor would then be
virtually the same as in areas of Clio Bay not
affected by wood debris.
The new layer of marine clay is expected to
be colonized by eelgrass and species such
as worms, crustaceans, small fish and other
sea life that will encourage a more plentiful,
healthy ecosystem, replacing the degraded
ecosystem created by the decomposing wood
debris that now covers the ocean floor.
Then the marine clay would be loaded on
barges and towed slowly across Kitimat Arm
for four kilometres to Clio Bay. The low speed
of barge movement will help keep people and
marine vessels safe.
At Clio Bay, the marine clay would be carefully
placed at pre-selected sites where dense
wood debris is known to exist. GPS as well
as weather and ocean current data would be
used to ensure precise deposits. During the
restoration project, “no go” zones and other
measures would be in place to protect sensitive
habitat and marine life in Clio Bay. The goal is
to restore soft ocean floor area and provide
a suitable habitat to help bring back a more
plentiful marine life to Clio Bay.
As a clay mass sinks, a thin trail of fine silt may
follow behind, like a tail on a comet.
To measure success, Clio Bay will be monitored
annually over five years and findings will be
made available to the public.
Kitimat LNG
To ask questions or give feedback, email
[email protected]
www.kitimatlngfacility.com
CLIO BAY RESTORATION PROJECT
How do we know Clio Bay was once more lively?
Haisla Nation Elders report they once crabbed
and fished at Clio Bay as a way of life.
In Clio Bay, wood debris covers more than
80 percent of the seafloor in some areas and
averages about 40 percent across much of the
Bay. In Eagle Bay, there is virtually no wood
debris.
Kitimat Museum & Archive Source: Kitimat Museum & Archives. Fossum
Collection. Making grease, Kitimaat Village, 1967.
Clio Bay was an abundant source of
sustenance, producing large quantities of
Dungeness crab and fish for the community.
This is because the soft ocean floor was not
yet laden with oxidizing woody debris.
In Eagle Bay, sea creatures such as Dungeness
crab and sunflower seastars are much more
abundant than in Clio Bay. This is because
these relatively large species avoid wooddominated habitats where food sources such
as worms and crustaceans are scarce.
Dungeness crab, 5X more
abundant in Eagle Bay than
Clio Bay
Sunflower seastars, 25X
more abundant in Eagle Bay
than Clio Bay
Studies of adjacent bays without wood debris
on the ocean floor provide a vivid picture of
Clio Bay as the Haisla remember it.
Eagle Bay, for example, is about the same size
as Clio Bay – 1.6 km2 – and has roughly the
same shape, depth and orientation.*
*Impacts of Wood Debris Accumulation on Seabed Ecology in British
Columbia Estuaries; University of Victoria, 2003
Kitimat LNG
To ask questions or give feedback, email
[email protected]
www.kitimatlngfacility.com
CLIO BAY RESTORATION PROJECT
What’s next?
Chevron is currently creating an implementation
plan for the project. We are looking to the
community to provide valuable feedback and
knowledge to help shape the plan. If the project
proceeds, the excavation of marine clay from
the Kitimat LNG site at Bish Cove could begin in
early 2014.
The length of the project would be determined
through consulting with local communities and
developing a project plan. The goal would be
to balance project objectives with community
needs to uphold public and marine safety while
minimizing disturbances to commercial and
recreational activity.
Community members would be kept up to date
on the project to ensure timelines and progress
are shared.
Upon completing the project, studies would be
conducted over five years to measure and report
on ocean floor habitat and marine life levels in
Clio Bay.
Today, project proponents around the world are moving
away from the old practice of dredging and disposing of
marine clay. The Clio Bay Restoration Project would see
marine clay used wisely to deliver net benefits to the
environment, community and culture.
Source: Kitimat Museum & Archives.
Fossum Collection. Eulachon Camp,
Kitimat River, 1967.
Kitimat LNG
To ask questions or give feedback, email
[email protected]
www.kitimatlngfacility.com
CLIO BAY RESTORATION PROJECT
What is marine clay?
MARINE CLAY
Marine clay is a naturally occurring, mineral mud found
in coastal regions around the world. In northern regions
like the Kitimat area, mineral clay is the result of melting
glaciers that disappeared thousands of years ago. In the
past, project proponents often dredged and disposed
of marine clay. Today it is viewed as a valuable material
with beneficial uses.
Thousands of years ago, glaciers melted and
left marine clay behind.
Marine clay is mucky in nature and presents
geotechnical engineering challenges. It is not
geotechnically stable enough to build a LNG
facility on because the swelling and movement
of marine clay has the potential to destabilize
building foundations.
At Clio Bay, the marine clay would be carefully
placed at pre-selected sites where dense
wood debris is known to exist. GPS as well
as weather and ocean current data would be
used to ensure precise deposits. During the
restoration project, “no go” zones and other
measures would be in place to protect sensitive
habitat and marine life in Clio Bay. The goal is
to restore soft ocean floor area and provide
a suitable habitat to help bring back a more
plentiful marine life to Clio Bay.
The proposed Clio Bay Restoration Project
is supported by the federal Department of
Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Haisla
Nation. In the future, the project could serve as
a model of success to help restore ocean floor
habitat at other sites affected by wood debris.
At the Kitimat LNG facility site, there is up to
30 metres of marine clay on top of bedrock. To
ensure the facility is built on a solid foundation,
Chevron is proposing to remove marine clay
from the Kitimat LNG site at Bish Cove and
transport it to Clio Bay.
Kitimat LNG
To ask questions or give feedback, email
[email protected]
www.kitimatlngfacility.com