In October municipal and federal dignitaries couldn't say enough positive things about the federal stimulus funding for Squamish's small craft harbour wharf repair, but six months and some environmental concerns later, it seems no one wants to take responsibility for the project.
The creosote pilings installed as part of the repair have sparked controversy from local environmental groups and when questioned about his responsibility for ensuring environmental standards are met with stimulus projects, John Weston, West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky MP, made it clear the responsibility isn't his.
"Most of the economic investment that I helped bring in from Ottawa was generated by local people, by people who helped set the priorities and said what was important," Weston said after the Squamish federal candidates forum on April 13. "Similarly the contracts were typically led by the Squamish District or the Squamish Lillooet Regional District."
"My job was to help bring in the funding and I relied on local leaders to set the priorities, then my staff and I went and helped get the money and then we expected the local leaders to use those funds in environmentally friendly and other responsible ways."
Installing creosote pilings, which are known to have a detrimental effect on herring spawning, is not what Squamish environmentalist John Buchanan and Squamish Streamkeepers would call "responsible."
"While our neighbours to the south [the United States] pull creosote pilings out, we just keep putting them in," said Buchanan, citing studies conducted by government agencies indicating that creosote-derived compounds from weathered creosote-treated pilings disrupt normal development in the Pacific herring and significantly reduce their survival rate.
"There is lots of good science out there to show how this poisons our oceans."
Mayor Greg Gardner, who expressed his appreciation during the federal funding announcement last October, denied any municipal responsibility for overseeing the project.
"That was a project of the Squamish Harbour Commission [Authority] and we have no regulatory approval authority on that," he said.
He said responsibility for environmental issues dealing with fisheries is shared between the B.C. Ministry of Environment and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).
"There's no requirement for them to check with us, nor did we issue any approval. We have no jurisdiction over that," he said, and declined to comment on the decision to use creosote.
During the October announcement, Weston said the projects would be undertaken by DFO in co-operation with the local harbour authorities that manage and operate facilities for local users.
Squamish harbour master Bill McEnery was named as one of those local authorities in October, when he said he would oversee the expenditure of funds.
However, when asked about the creosote decision this week, McEnery immediately referred the inquiry to DFO.
According to Squamish Marine Services manager Chris Tamburri, whose company completed the replacement of the dock and one of the floats, the company hired to replace the pilings was "just replacing the ones that were there."
A self-proclaimed industrial environmentalist, Tamburri defended the other company's actions but made it clear his company no longer uses creosote for pilings. Instead, it uses only steel.
Tamburri couldn't name the other company involved in the project.
"They put in used pilings, so that minimizes any leaching - anything that was going to leach out of them was already gone," he said. "They used creosote because that's what they were replacing."
Bill McNeney, the Squamish Yacht Club's past commodore, also confirmed the company had used creosote.
"This winter, the Yacht Club put in one creosote piling," McNeney said, "only because the small craft harbour had a contracted business there installing creosote pilings for the small craft harbour."
Normally the club doesn't use creosote. In fact, Squamish Streemkeepers co-chair Jack Cooley commended the Yacht Club for its attention to the matter - it paid almost double the cost to install non-creosote-covered pilings.
Buchanan questioned Tamburri's claim that used pilings were installed.
"I'm not an expert on creosote pilings, but the ones I saw go in looked brand new to me. If you go down and look at them, they all look brand new," he said.
However, looking forward is his main concern.
"I think that what I'd like to see in this town, because we're going to have a lot of changes on our waterfront, is a local law that states we cannot use creosote pilings," he said. "There are alternatives."
DFO officials did not return calls by press time.
