PEACHLAND, BC – It’s costing the Transportation Ministry several hundred thousand dollars every year to deal with a persistent pollution problem in the hills west of Peachland.
The construction of the Okanagan Connector highway exposed pyrite rock deposits that created acid rock drainage.
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Polluted water was threatening fish in Pennask Creek, which is one of BC’s most productive and important trout spawning streams.
The ministry was forced to build a pollution control system where the acidic water is captured, treated and removed for safe disposal elsewhere.
That has cost up to $400,000 annually for 15 years in operational and maintenance costs.
An engineering firm has been hired to try to find a more cost efficient, long term solution to the pollution problem.
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