Abandoned tire recycling plant threatening Tseshaht health

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Tseshaht First Nation calls it an environmental disaster for the entire Alberni Valley

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PORT ALBERNI - Leaders of a Port Alberni First Nation say an abandoned tire recycling plant is threatening their heath and the health of their traditional territory. In the early 1990s the provincial government gave the green light to a company that wanted to set up a tire recycling plant just outside of the Tseshaht First Nation reserve. Less than five years later, market pressures caused the facility to close its doors and some 15 years later tribe leaders say a mass amount of tires and debris are polluting the land and posing a huge fire risk.

"It's an environmental disaster for this local area," said Chief Hugh Braker, "it is and environmental disaster for the Alberni valley." Leaders say with the company long gone the province should have come in and fixed the problem, but nothing has been done for 15 years.

The Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resources takes responsibility for controlling the crown land, but in a statement to CTV News they say the cost of cleaning up the tires would be far greater than the property's worth. Ministry officials also say testing from the past five years show ground water is not contaminated. Tribe leaders say they are not willing to wait and see if the tires eventually poison their lands and waters and have begun consulting with a legal team to force the province to take action.