Snuneymuxw First Nation is calling on other levels of government to act to protect its waters following an oil spill and long-standing discharge of “toxic sawmill effluent” at Duke Point near Nanaimo. The nation is calling for a full environmental investigation following the incidents it says are caused by Environmental 360 and Western Forest Products. The nation has sent letters to the federal, provincial and municipal governments calling on them to act. This comes after an oil spill was discovered on Jan. 2 which was eventually discovered to be from Environmental 360 properties. The nation also says it was recently informed of long-standing and significant toxic effluent discharges from Western Forest Products’ sawmill and says the issue has been ongoing for four decades. Snuneymuxw says it was misinformed about the scale and severity of the issue by the company, and recently learned there was a “high likelihood of ecological damage.”

Additional coverage in the Nanaimo News Bulletin: Snuneymuxw demands investigation into Western Forest Products runoff