Local officials say residents threatened by repeated landslides need certainty...
Officials in northeast B.C. are welcoming a provincially funded study of landslide risks in the Old Fort community just south of Fort St. John.
It comes after three separate landslides in the same spot since 2018 have repeatedly prompted evacuations while destroying a home and other critical infrastructure.
Brad Sperling, board chair of the Peace River Regional District, is concerned about the frequency of landslides and says a study is long overdue.
"We don't know the risks and the hazards yet of the underlying ground, what's going to happen," said Sperling, who has represented the Old Fort area as an electoral director for the last 12 years.
"We've been asking for it for eight years, but the studies were never done," he said. "We just need some certainty, hopefully positive for our residents. They've gone through a lot."
In late April, a 400-metre wide landslide on Old Fort Road, about five kilometres south of Fort St. John, resulted in evacuation orders or alerts for multiple properties in the community of roughly 150 people.
Evacuation orders were lifted a month later after initial geological assessments determined there was no imminent risk of another slide.
The province says a second phase of study, involving a more detailed assessment of future risks, began this week.
Old Fort has been the site of previous landslide threats over the last decade
“As the only road into and out of the community of Old Fort, this work is vital to fully understand the landslide risks and help ensure the safety of residents, visitors and property," Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Kelly Greene said in a statement.
A 2021 provincial transportation study explored several options — including bridges — for realigning Old Fort Road away from historic landslide debris and reducing future landslide risks.
The study ultimately concluded that maintaining the existing route had the lowest cost and least environmental impacts.
Construction of a $1.1-million permanent new road through the latest slide debris began in late August and is expected to take eight weeks.
Sperling says the scale and impacts of the slides have made life difficult and uncertain for residents. Many stayed in their homes and disregarded evacuation orders in April.
Sperling says even though Old Fort residents are resilient, they deserve to know what the future holds for them. "They live where they want to live," he said, noting the community has also endured 10 years of noise, traffic and dust from Site C construction just upstream of the riverside community.
"It would be pure speculation, but when's the next slide? That goes through my mind and I'm sure it goes through residents' minds too. We need to know."
-Matt Preprost is a reporter with CBC British Columbia based in Fort St. John. He has covered the B.C Peace region and Northern Rockies since 2013. Email him at fsj@cbc.ca
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