Boston Bar landslide investigation gets speedy funding approval

A historic landslide looming above Boston Bar will get a closer look, but the local government isn’t allowed to say anything yet about funding for a new study into the recently discovered threat.

Last year, geologists working for an unnamed Fraser Canyon First Nation discovered evidence that the hillside above the small highway community was unstable and potentially vulnerable to further movement. As The Current reported in February, the scientists delivered a pre-emptive warning to the Fraser Valley Regional District that they should avoid green-lighting more development in the area until the threat can be further investigated.

(You can read our original story here.)

The geologists said LiDAR data recently collected by the federal government showed evidence of a large “landslide complex” directly above the townsite, and urged the FVRD to further study of the risk posed to the community. A FVRD staff report said the engineering firm “felt compelled to proactively share the information … in the broader interest of public safety.”

That warning led the FVRD, which governs Boston Bar, to submit a funding application in January. The application said that Boston Bar and the nearby communities of Canyon Alpine and North Bend are located at the base of of slopes susceptible to “shallow slope failures.”

The application also said that, “should any part of this landslide fail rapidly, it could result in life safety threats to persons in homes at the base of the slopes.”

The FVRD noted that a slide could have ramifications that resonate far beyond Boston Bar. Although only a few hundred people live in the community, a slide could also shut down Highway 1 and the CN and CPKC rail lines.

Even if the ground shifts slowly, the application noted that a slow-moving landslide could damage homes, businesses, and Boston Bar’s water infrastructure.

While Abbotsford and other Fraser Valley communities have learned that requests for disaster mitigation funding can take years to be approved, the provincial government quickly greenlit funds to study the Boston Bar landslide threat.

In March, the provincial government approved more than $300,000 in funding to further study the slide risk above Boston Bar, according to a new report by FVRD staff. The province provided the money to the FVRD, which in turn has now hired BGC Engineering, the company whose geologists discovered the landslide threat in the first place, to complete the study.

An FVRD staff report notes that the study could impact the future of Boston Bar and the surrounding community. If the landslide is deemed to pose a long-term threat, it could lead the local government to change or restrict where new buildings can be constructed in the community.

The new study funded by the province will seek to determine whether the landslide is actively moving, the likelihood that its movement could accelerate, the potential scale and speed of any future movement, and the parts of Boston Bar that may be exposed to future landslide hazard. It will include the acquisition of satellite data, consultation with local residents, and creating a localized hazard assessment.

But the $300,000 investigation might be just the start.

The FVRD’s application had said that a comprehensive study of the landslide could cost more than $1 million. Given how little is known about the slide, the approved study will try to tackle basic questions, which in turn could prompt further studies and investigation.

Locals are keen to know more. The FVRD report says “the preliminary identification of the Boston Bar landslide complex has generated significant interest and concern from community members, local Indigenous communities and the media.”

Despite the geologists saying they were delivering the slide threat information to the FVRD in the interest of public safety, neither the FVRD nor the provincial government have yet to take steps to proactively inform residents. So far, The Current is the only media organization to publish information on the discovery.

The FVRD board approved the signing of a contract with BGC Engineering.

But the regional district has yet to issue a formal statement on the funding for the landslide probe. FVRD staff created a public staff report to allow the regional district’s elected board to approve the contract last week. But that report notes that the regional district is barred from making any public statements on the disaster-prevention funding until the province has made an announcement—which has not yet taken place.