To the Editor,
Re: Swy-a-lana needs infusion of cash, Letters, May 25.
I am not sure what Eleanor Miller’s story is about.
The Swy-a-lana Lagoon, along with Maffeo Sutton Park, is completely man-made. It sits on top of an old industrial site that was once a lumber mill.
By today’s standards the park development is what the global warming experts would expect to see in reference to building carbon neutrality or carbon sinks.
The electrical power that runs the water pumps in the lagoon could be, and should be, offset because it is the cost of creating a carbon sink. The reservoirs and waterfalls around the lagoon may not be esthetically pleasing, but they are examples of algae promotion.
Visitors may look in disgust at the appearance, but this is a form of ignorance and perhaps signage and explanations of the science should be posted.
Many people are unaware the dumping and scattering of iron sulphate is, or has already been done, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of B.C. The scattering of fertilizer is supposed to promote plankton blooming to provide a larger base for the food chain.
This apparently will grow the salmon fishery and create a carbon sink, which the developers hope to sell as credits on the carbon trading market.
And here we have another example of how Nanaimo is not getting similar kickbacks to offset locally collected taxes to promote our own carbon sink.
The Swy-a-lana reservoirs generate algae and the waterfalls effectively oxygenate the inner lagoon.
The costs of maintaining this carbon sink project should be claimed by Nanaimo, similar to those developers who dump iron sulphate in our ocean.
Simply put, we want our share of taxes back from the feds.