No dump, says Cowichan band

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The Cowichan band is seeking an injunction to stop development of a site that members say is the most sacred place in their territory and one of the last available places to hold traditional and spiritual ceremonies. To the Native people of the Cowichan Valley the site is called Hw'te shutsun. To others, it's Hill 60.

Plans for Hw'te shutsun, a 9.5 hectare site about 60 km north of Victoria, include a garbage dump as designated by the Cowichan Valley regional district.

The band has filed for an injunction in the Supreme Court of British Columbia claiming a breach of its members' constitutionally-protected right to the Crown land. A suit against the provincial government has also been filed seeking unspecified damages. It accuses the province of breaching its fiduciary responsibility to consult with the band before approving the development, as set out in the Supreme Court of Canada's Delgamuukw ruling.

Part of the band's argument against the use of the site includes the fact that it ranked fourth out of five potential sites evaluated by the regional district's engineers as suitable for a landfill.

"Once a landfill is created in the vicinity of sacred sites for bathing and ritual practices, traditional areas for hunting, gathering foods, medicines and cultural technology material, Cowichan Aboriginal rights will be severely infringed. . .[by] noise, pollution and smell," the band warned in a letter to Environment Minister Cathy McGregor in February.

The goal of the area First Nations was not legal action, but a heightened sense of respect and protection of Aboriginal rights, said Cowichan Chief Lydia Hwitsum in published reports.

Non-Aboriginal residents of the area are also filing for a B.C. Supreme Court judicial review of the process that led to the Environment Ministry's approval of the landfill plans. They, too, believe they were not adequately consulted as to the location of the dump. Affidavits signed by 43 Hill 60 area residents have been collected and state that they did not receive notice of an open house in November 1995 where the plans were discussed. Residents are concerned that heavy rains could result in toxins leaching through the landfill's plastic liner and into the ground water.