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Prince Rupert Regional Information Site

April 23^rd	We See
	Lawn mowing to Bogs

This was the first lawn I saw mowed but it became common within the next few days – on right is an Archives map which shows Reserve Lands before McKenna McBride Commission came through and removed the lands – see my earlier where lands being restored as covered at last SQCRD meeting

Archives Map of pre cut-off Reserve lands – in yellow

	Along with the lawn mowing
	Another sign of ‘rate’ that spring is advancing – we have the alders about half open – and the various Vaccinium species (Huckleberries etc) in full bloom – but here I show Maianthemum dilatatum (see E-Flora page) where one of the ‘common names’ is ‘May-lily’ or more usually ‘False lily-of-the-valley’ --- and it is preparing to bloom (arrow left)

Exercise apparently driven by changes to MSR Regulations (see BC Waste Water News section (scroll down) for best links – Federal regs change presumably driving the rest--- See my earlier where PR looks at Secondary sewage treatment )

SQCRD looking at using peatlands for disposal of treated wastewater (sewage)

Oona River and Dodge Cove have had a report done for them by AECOM looking at ‘feasibility of using the extensive peatlands found on the Central Coast (sic) of BC’. The first phase AECOM study was a literature review etc which concluded ‘disposing of treated sewage effluent into peatlands is a viable option for small coastal communities on the central west coast of British Columbia’ While I have only had a short period to read the document, the above conclusion was based largely upon this online PDF science article Wetland nutrient removal: a review of the evidence by J. Fisher and MC Acreman, found in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences – Note the title: Wetlands --- of the 57 wetlands investigated only 4 were peatlands – but the AECOM review uses the conclusion and tables from Fisher and Acreman to conclude that since peatlands ‘are capable of removing nitrogen from wastewaters due to their large carbon stores and their anaerobic conditions’ we should go on to phase 2 of study

A Short Critique (right) So long as Oona River and Dodge Cove are paying for these studies (and not PR taxpayers) – who cares? – It is only when they proceed to stage where actually dumping sewage over on Digby Island that we should get involved– other than monitoring their studies etc

Note there is a difference between dumping a load of sewage on a bog versus using bog as ‘end of pipe’ where the wet sewage flow would be more or less continuous --- bogs are by definition already water saturated – thus one would expect any new inputs to either displace existing water or simply flow into nearby sea (residency time etc) – depending upon rainfall, season etc

Very interesting Science etc Of course Wetlands have long been used to remove nutrients: Here is a recent journal article in Ecological Engineering http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2009.05.009 Nutrient functioning in all three beds varied in a non-linear manner in relation to input nutrient concentrations and water residency time. Possible reasons for the differences in functioning between nitrogen and phosphorus, vegetation types and between seasons are discussed.

New Directions in Land use? Finding uses of our extensive Peatlands – or even converting them to more productive ecosystems by treating them with the nutrients left in Sewage Treatment has real potential – I recommend the study for local biology courses etc (PDF mentioned by SQCRD)

I was told this boat belonged to a recently jailed drug dealer—appropriately named said the passer-by who told me the story as ‘Pirate Lady’ of some such	We See ‘Signs of Change’

	That time of year – ornamental cherries in bloom
	Old timers tell me there were once several different fruit bearing trees (I have already mentioned apples were once abundant) --- and plan to do a series of articles on berries, trees etc that remain from a pre-consumer Rupert – when ‘everyone had their own garden’ etc --- Back to Future theme

Who Cares? All you need to do is have a hot dog handy if Bylaw officer comes around – open fires for cooking don’t require a Burning Permit (nor does this fellow apparently)	These fellows seem to be burning refuse every other day
	Well I suppose that is the problem of people in Cow Bay or up on 4^th East – because Rupert has such good air circulation (usually) we (City powers that be) don’t pay much attention to negative health effects of fine particulate matter – see especially PM2.5 which is so small it can pass via lungs into arteries see the Wikipeda article and links from there

More On spring later

Created by LG on 23/4/2010

Last updated on Friday, April 23, 2010