NOU Hag Lo

Raw sewage spill into creek postpones school kids’ science project

THE SEWAGE dump into
Parkside Creek this month
did more than kill fish and
contaminate water; it also put
an exciting project at Cove
Cliff Elementary School on
hold.

By Kate Zimmerman
News Reporter

e children there had just
taken the first steps toward the
Cove Cliff Park Restoration
Project, an initiative proposed in
March by the Parks Board and
eagerly embraced by the school.

It involved the students helping
plan a natural park for the tangled
woods bordering the school prop-
erty and hugging both sides of the
creck,

Teacher-librarian Maria
Agostini described the project as
“the rehabilitation of a park set-
ting.”

Though it was proposed late in
the school year, it has already
inspired science classes to make
an inventory of trees and bushes,
identify plants in the area and
design their.own versions of the
ideal park, incorporating an exist-
ing pond.

. “We're now doing the Park
Restoration Animal Study,” she
said.

This project, which involves
Grades-4 and 5, includes an exam-
ination of animals and birds

TEE ETI D nil
9

EWS phote Nott Lucente

AN EARLY May sewage spill in Parkside Creek has forced Cove Cliff Elementary students to
explore other cpportunities In studying thelr natural environment. Grade 7 students Heather
Cowtan and Nicholas Fruhling, both 13, make an inventory of plant life adjacent to the creek.

native to B.C. and the food
sources and shelter they would
require if they were to live in this
particular park, which is about the
size of two house lots.

But now, there are gates
enclosing the creek and signs
warning that a clean-up is in
progress. When a sewage pump
backed up into the creek May 6

and 7, causing a 22-hour,
250,000-gallon raw sewage spill,
the area was cordoned off so dis-
trict engineers could flush out the
creek.

“Everything sort-of stopped
when this
Agostini,

Without access to the area, the
school has been unable to proceed
with its park studies. °

At this point, with less than a
month before school lets out for
the summer, Agostini’s classes
have to push on to other scientific
subjects.

“We've lost: momentum,”
explained.

But Agostini hopes to resume
the park restoration in the fall. It
will likely include working with
an expert to design a butterfly
garden, stocking the pond with
indigenous amphibians, making
birdhouses, planting same trees
and removing others.

The damage caused by the
sewage spill may prompt other
projects, like a study to see
whether the insects necessary to
feed the remaining fish return
after the water’s bacteria counts
are back to normal.

Various organizations, includ-
ing the parks board and the Lynn
Canyon Ecology Centre will be
involved in the planning and
implementation of the park, said
Agostini, and funding will come
from a variety of sources, possibly
including Habitat 2000,

happened,” said

she

“The kids are really excited
about it,” she said. “It’s wonderful
to have this as part of your pro-

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