A Twin Lakes area resident is fearful that piece of mountainside above her house is going to slide, going public with her fears earlier this week.
Regional district officials and engineers from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, as well as the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Resource Operations took a look at the situation on foot and by helicopter on Tuesday, October 2.
At issue is a rock outcropping located above the far end of Resolute Road near Twin Lakes. The road provides access to a new subdivision known as Kaleden Acres.
According to resident Sam Verigin, who lives directly below the outcroppingLandowner, blasting work done during creation of the road in 2009 led to rock fracturing. Earlier this year, some pieces of the rock face broke off, and examination above the rock face reveals fissures large enough to have uprooted large trees.
Verigin alerted media and public officials about the threat, prompting Tuesday’s response.
“It’s the fissures that are opening up higher up that are my concern,” Verigan told the Review on October 4.
“That’s where my real fear is.”
Verigin said that engineers told her that no evacuation was necessary yet, - but after challenging one of the ministry engineers to a $1 bet as to whether the outcrop would come down further than Resolute Road, she received no taker.
Verigin said that she has had issues with the subdivision development in the past over work being done on the hillside above her residence.
“I have had four concerns,” she said, “environmental - this area is an animal corridor - water, septic and sewage - I’m on the downside of this development - and land stability. The last concern is the issue where other people have finally stepped in.”
Verigin said that she had a new septic field installed two years ago, and a new well has recently given her water issues that she had not had in the past.
“I’ve lived here for 30 years, and I’ve been a good environmental steward,” she said. “The well was producing good water, and now it’s discoloured.”
Verigin feels the development has something to do with her water issues.
“Up to now, I’ve been one voice and I’ve not been heard,” Verigin concluded. “The regional district obviously has failed because they passed this subdivision.”
Kathleen Jagger is a partner in the development, with a professional background in geography. When contacted by the Review on October 4 she admitted that the issue caught her by surprise.
“In the initial mailout, we were not included,” she said of the email notices that alerted press and government to the issue on October 2, an omission that left the landowner unprepared for the sudden attention.
“We’ve been aware of the slide, which occurred onto an access road since the wetter weather this spring,” Jagger said. “Obviously, something needs to be done. We have not yet had contact with any government agency yet regarding their conclusion from their visit.” Jagger acknowledged the higher level of awareness people in the region have over landslides since Oliver’s Testaslinden Creek slide (June 13, 2010) and more recently, Johnson’s Landing (July 12, 2012) in the Kootenays.
Jagger said that her discussions with the two ministry geotechnicians who appraised the situation on Tuesday revealed the slide to be a “rotational slide” meaning it was a slide or “slump” occurring on a curved plane, in hard rock, that was stable for now. Heavy rains could change the situation, but the general consensus was that should it move further, it would come to a rest on Resolute Road and have no impact on Verigin’s house.
Jagger said she would like to speak to government officials about it, adding that the subdivision road had all provincial approvals.
Mark Woods, Community Services Manager for the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen was part of the entourage that inspected the fissure on Tuesday, along with two staff members from the Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Resource Operations.
“We have had an opportunity to consult with experts and get some feedback with respect to levels of risk,” he told the Review. “The RDOS’ goal was to assess the threat and decide if an evacuation order was warrranted, and at this time the conclusion is ‘no’.”
Woods noted that the assessment of the condition of the fractured rock is that it would be contained by the plateau upon which Resolute Road is built. In order to reach Verigin’s house it would have to travel a further 300 metres through large trees, down a moderate slope.
“We will be monitoring the situation,” Woods explained, “that means watching for changes in weather.” Woods further explained that the slide was being held up by a clay like material, which could be affected by heavy rainfall. He noted that the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure also did an assessment and closed a portion of Resolute Road because of the potential threat to a portion of that roadway.
“The landowner (Verigin) is currently comfortable with a no evacuation order, and their are currently no homes in the portion of the subdivision affected,” Woods concluded. “We are comfortable that Verigin is out of harm’s way under the current conditions. It’s now up to highways to work with the subdivision developers to decide how to correct the problem.”