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EGERIA BAY-The Tseycum First Nation, Tsartlip and Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group have got a stop work order issued against the Victoria-based consortium Poets Cove Seaside Resort at Bedwell Harbour Ltd., as of Feb. 11. The First Nations have complained about disturbance of a provincial heritage site at Eberia Bay, otherwise known as Poets' Cove on South Pender Island, which they say has turned up shell midden piles that include evidence of human remains.
The site was identified in 1955 and given a provincial heritage site designation. Subsequent commercial development damaged but did not destroy the site.
An archeological impact study in 1990 designated the site as having moderate to high cultural significance, as it contained deposits up to 5,000 years old.
In 2002, the current group of investors decided to build a marina, cottages, luxury villas and lodge on the site. In September, 2002, Chief Vern Jacks of the Tseycum First Nation reported disturbed shell midden at the site of the hotel diggings to the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management.
Poets Cove Seaside Resort at Bedwell Harbour Ltd. hired a consultant and obtained a site alteration permit at the end of 2002, which was supposed to prevent further damage. Yet, the Tseycum chief, working as a field consultant for the developers' consultant, found further extensive evidence of freshly disturbed shell midden, which was removed by bulldozer and dumped in other locations.
The developer, Bill James, said that prior to September 2002, his company had not been aware of any previous archeological impact study. He said they have since tried to accommodate First Nations interests. The First Nations say the company is in breach of section 31 of the Heritage Conservation Act and that the excavation was neither covered by the company's altered permit nor monitored by the company's archeological consultant.
The RCMP are investigating. No legal action has been taken by the province so far.
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