HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

September 14-15, 1972
Event type: Debris slide.
Precipitation: Prince Rupert M. Circ (51.8 mm/1 day), September 14, 1972; Falls River (64.0 mm/2 days), September
14-15, 1972.
Source: The Daily News, September 15, 1972.
Overnight September 14-15, heavy rains caused a rock and mudslide near Port Edward. The slide, which
was approximately 75 ft. (22.5 m) long, came down on the highway at 8 Mile near Inverness. Part of the highway was
closed. By 10 a.m., one lane was open to traffic.
September 27, 1972
Event type: Debris slides.
Source: The Citizen, September 29; October 2 and 3, 1972; The Vancouver Sun, September 30, 1972; The Province,
September 30, 1972; Victoria Times, October 4, 1972.
On September 29, two slides temporarily blocked the Bear River, 240 mi. (384 km) northwest of Prince George. A
hillside 3 mi. (4.8 km) above the mouth of the Bear River where it enters the Sustut River northeast of Hazelton fell into the
river in area considered unstable. The slides were triggered along the river by roadbed construction of the BC Rail extension
line to Dease Lake. They left silt deposits and debris on spring (Chinook) spawning areas. Tons of earth blocked the 70-foot
(21 m) wide river, clogging the salmon and steelhead spawning beds for nearly 1 mi. (1.6 km).
Harry Kruisselbrink, Secretary-Treasurer of Smithers’ SPEC (Society Promoting Environmental Conservation),
who flew over the slide area said that three-quarters of the river was blocked. “There are more potential slides in a stretch of
about 0.75 mi. (1.2 km). One of the is downstream about 0.5 mi. (800 m) from the slide in what is known as site two, an area
long suspected by the fish and wildlife department and fisheries department” (The Citizen, October 2, 1972).
A Fish and Wildlife Branch official said that the railway knew of the dangers of laying track on such unstable clay
banks. Not only did the silt shift into the spawning beds but much of the silt drifted downstream, affecting the river right up
to its mouth. He speculated that the spawning area would be spoiled for at least a year (The Citizen, September 29, 1972).
According to Morley Pinsent, regional fisheries biologist for the Fish and Wildlife Branch, he had gone to the Bear
River construction site twice to warn the BCR about the slide danger. But railway officials had “insisted on doing things the
easy way.” Pinsent considered the Bear River, a tributary of the Skeena River, an extremely important steelhead spawning
ground and also a very important salmon spawning ground. Pinsent said that the BCR also took the easy way at Takla Lake
by going so near the lakefront.
Dick Phillips, former president of the B.C. Wildlife Federation and an outspoken critic of the location of the BC
Rail extension, stated that such an accident could have been avoided. The railway could have been set back in most places far
from Takla Lake, Bear Lake and the river, and that the railway could have bypassed the area that collapsed (The Citizen,
September 29, 1972). *1)
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*1) This was the first time a charge was laid against a provincial corporation under the amendment to the Fisheries Act
allowing such charges against government corporations.
October 23-24, 1972
Event type: Landslides.
Precipitation: Tasu Sound (82.0 mm/1 day), October 23, 1972; Falls River (107.0 mm/2 days), October 23-24, 1972;
Kildala (70.6 mm/2 days), October 23-24, 1972; Kitimat 2 (108.0 mm/2 days), October 23-24, 1972; Prince Rupert M.
Circ (145.8 mm/2 days), October 23-24, 1972; Prince Rupert (105.8 mm/1 day), October 24, 1972; Langara (62.2
mm/1 day), October 24, 1972.
Source: The Daily News, October 24, 25 and 26, 1972; The Herald, October 25, 1972; J. Mekechuck, pers. comm.
1989. CN Railway, Edmonton, Alta.
On October 23, Prince Rupert recorded 2.16 in. (54.9 mm) of rain in 16 hours or 2.89 in. (73.4 mm) in 24
hours. The Terrace airport reported 1.25 in. (31.8 mm) in 23 hours. Highway 16 between Prince Rupert-Terrace was
closed until October 26 by a massive slide and two smaller slides. The Port Edward Cannery road was closed from
North Pacific south until October 26, the result of mud and water on the road. In Prince Rupert, basements flooded and
downtown stores sustained damage. In Terrace, Kalum Street was closed to traffic after a landslide carried away the
roadbed at the Kalum Street Hill.
On November 24, CNR reported heavy rains. Several washouts and two slides occurred at Mile 80.5 and
81.6. Debris slides blocked the line east and west of Terrace. The rail line was closed for 90 hours.
November 10, 1972
Event type: Severe scour?
Precipitation: Not available.
Source: The Vancouver Sun, November 20 and 30, 1972; January 5, 1973; Fort Nelson News, November 15, 1972; The
Province, August 10, 1973.
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