From new homes to commercial buildings, the capital region is in the midst of a major construction boom, and the problem of where to put the soil after the foundations are dug is a concern for rural communities on South Vancouver Island.

With nowhere in Greater Victoria to put the dirt once it is excavated form the construction site, trucks are hauling it out of the region to communities like the Cowichan Valley, Shawnigan Lake, Metchosin and Sooke.

“We certainly have a large amount of development in the region and as we know the excavation has to go somewhere,” said Vancouver Island Construction Association CEO Rory Kulmala. “Where do we put this material and how do communities that are equipped to handle it accommodate that?”

The increased amount of soil being moved to rural areas is a growing issue in the Juan de Fuca region.

“We’re dealing with about 1,000 trucks a year,” said Juan de Fuca electoral district director Mike Hicks. “At the very start of the year, my planning staff were spending 75 per cent of their time just dealing with soil permits.”

In an emailed statement, the B.C. environment ministry says “current requirements for soil relocation in the Environmental Management Act (EMA) and the Contaminated Sites Regulation (CSR) provide rules for the movement of contaminated soil through ministry approval of a Contaminated Soil Relocation Agreement.”

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