-1475 obtx ci MINETTE II .z4 15 / il31 Robiate DFO - Libra / MPO - B bliotheque BA Y „I CJ Is 18 122 Lake 5 II 1 I 11 1 1111 11 11 04012730 02 3 8.0 7 Yo 0 3' Lasha NOTE Aluminum o. of anada Smelter Lake Aids to Navigation at Kitimat FG are privately maintained. / ut if Kitimat FG 11111(P.o.) s 001: (See Chart 3736) FIR 3 FIG 3 5 3 o 1 1611--- -22 •••.t3 ,V •-- W rf 2, 4))4 • l'31 49 40 'od'o B. M. 34;14 2LtsFR 57 1 (61 72 2. 75 M 73 49. I s' • 86 Kitimat 'Mission 5, 84 :.(Indian Settlement) 88 66 :2i: 23/ • / • 4'N T96 RI V 384 95 96 1 ' 32 1 .. .... 34/ 1311 -o STATlfS 61 I / .- M 41 — ,- ........: 0 ioe - o 69 53 L VIA? W ir: TA L, K N 35., 110 v. Itt M -Risk 3 1 462 .. /2 / 2 ■ '..3 CI) t, 18 ,- 75 m 119 I R 116 ' / fl, .;32. 97 / 20 122 • 41 I 38 45-7I ; 58 ' 4Sy 107 38 432 93/ 18, 120 M \38 55: 129 Fl 109 31 143 I R 12 Emsley 25 Cove .;''" 1.13) 71 142 . 37 116 153 /68 150 31 3 8/ 152 \SPECIA 152 114 , . (SY • 62 . 2 133 II 2 Brentzen,9 3 \ .•., 14 MI Coste Pt.,36 RI Rk. 55 72L . II 164 ' /34 153\ 94 P'::. ..'.' t 990M92.>.(a.4-bl\.. 3\0) • 6 .. • i ' *--' 80 \ja .104 56 • 88 :70 108 70l I i 15 4 r , ENVIRONMENT CANADA THE KITIMAT RIVER ESTUARY STATUS OF ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE TO 1976 REPORT OF THE ESTUARY WORKING GROUP DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT REGIONAL BOARD PACIFIC REGION By LEONARD M. BELL and RONALD J. KALLMAN Under the Direction of Dr. M. Waldichuk Fisheries and Marine Service Pacific Environment Institute West Vancouver, B. C. SPECIAL ESTUARY SERIES No. 6 DECEMBER 1, 1976 L Kitimat River Estuary - August 1974. Courtesy of Alcan, Kitimat. Photography by McElhanney Surveying & Engineering Ltd., Vancouver, B.C. i. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Table of Contents List of Appendices List of Figures vii List of Tables ix Abbreviations and Symbols xi Preface xvi Acknowledgements xxii Summary xxiii 1. Introduction i (i) General 1 (ii) Historical Perspective 4 2. Geology and Soils 8 (i) General Geologic History 8 (ii) Bedrock Geology 9 (iii) Surficial Geology 10 (iv) Economic Geology 15 (v) Soils 18 3. Climatology 20 (i) General 20 (ii) Climatological Stations 21 (iii) Precipitation 21 (iv) Temperature 26 (v) Wind 26 (vi) Other Parameters 31 (vii) Air Pollution Potential 31 4. Hydrology 33 (i) General '33 (ii) Streamflow Gauging Stations 35 (iii) Floods and Flood Control 36 5. Oceanography 40 (i) Introduction 40 (ii) General Oceanographic Characteristics 42 ii. (iii) Tides 45 (iv) Water Properties 47 (v) Currents and Circulation 54 (vi) Wave Action 62 6. Invertebrates 65 (i) Terrestrial Invertebrates 65 (ii) Freshwater Invertebrates 69 (iii) Marine Invertebrates 70 (iv) The Invertebrate Fisheries Resource 74 7. Fish 77 (i) General Discussion 77 1. Salmon 77 (a) Coho Salmon 78 (b) Chum Salmon 80 (c) Chinook Salmon 80 (d) Pink Salmon 81 (e) Sockeye Salmon 82 2. Anadromous Trout 82 3. Resident Freshwater Species 83 4. Marine Species 83 (ii) The Fisheries Resource 84 1. Commercial Fishing 84 2. Sport Fishing 87 (a) Freshwater Sport Fishing 87 (b) Tidal Sport Fishing 88 3. Indian Food Fishery 89 8. Flora 91 (i) Aquatic Flora 91 (ii) Deltaic Flora 92 (iii) Terrestrial Flora 96 9. Wildlife 103 (i) Waterfowl 103 (ii) Marshbirds and Shorebirds 105 (iii) Gulls 106 (iv) Other Waterbirds 106 (v) Raptorial Birds 107 (vi) Other Bird Species 108 (vii) Mammals 109 (viii) Wildlife and Human Interactions 110 10. Land and Water Use 112 (i) General 112 (ii) Residential 113 (iii) Recreational 116 (iv) Industrial 121 1. Manufacturing 122 2. Port Facilities 123 3. Forestry 126 4. Agriculture 128 5. Municipal Services 129 11. Pollution and Water Quality 132 (i) Water Pollution 132 1. Water Quality Data 134 2. Domestic Sewage 136 3. Alcan Smelter 138 4. Eurocan Pulp Mill 144 5. Logging and Log Handling 150 6. Shipping 153 7. Stream Channelization 153 Air Pollution 154 1. Regulation 154 2. Ambient Air Monitoring Program 155 3. Alcan Smelter 157 4. Eurocan Pulp mill 161 5. Post-logging Treatment 164 6. Proposed Steel Mill 165 12. Effects of Development 166 13. Conclusions 169 14. Appendices 171 15. Glossary 237 16. Bibliography 252 I. Introduction 252 iv. II. Geology and Soils 255 III. Climatology 259 IV. Hydrology 261 V. Oceanography 263 VI. Invertebrates 266 VII. Fish 268 VIII. Flora 271 IX. Wildlife 273 X. Land and Water Use 274 XI. Pollution and Water Quality 280 17. Author Index 288 v . LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix Page 1.1. Sources of information 172 1.2. On-going research in the Kitimat River estuary and area 175 1.3. Metric conversion factors 177 2.1. Geologic time scale 179 2.2. Events associated with the occurrence of marine clays in the Kitimat Valley - Kitimat Arm area . 180 4.1. Kitimat River estuary streamflow data 182 6.1. List of benthic freshwater invertebrates recorded from the lower Kitimat River 183 6.2. List of invertebrates recorded from the Kitimat River estuary as compiled from the available literature 188 7.1. Kitimat River system (includes tributaries) anadromous fish escapement data summary 192 7.2. Kitimat River and tributaries salmon escapements from 1965 to 1975 193 7.3. List of fish species recorded from the Kitimat study area (includes the Kitimat River system and Kitimat Arm) 195 7.4. Annual reported landed values in $000's for Area 6 197 7.5. Steelhead catch data for the Kitimat River including the Wedeene Rivers and Hirsch Creek . 198 7.6. Salmon sport catch, fishing effort and success for tidal waters in statistical Area 6, Kitimat - Butedale 199 8.1. List of floral species identified from the lower Kitimat valley 200 9.1. Species lists of birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles from the Kitimat estuary and area 212 vi. LIST OF APPENDICES (cont'd). Appendix Page 10.1. Maps, charts and aerial photographs of the Kitimat Region 220 10.2. Environmental legislation - partial list of acts relating to water and air pollution 223 11.1. Water pollution sources near Kitimat, B.C. 226 11.2. Air pollution sources in the Kitimat area 229 11.3. Landfill operations in the Kitimat area 236 vii. LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1. Location map Kitimat River estuary 2 1.2. The Kitimat River estuary 3 3.1. Location of climatological stations - Kitimat, B C 22 3.2. Annual wind rose Kitimat Townsite, percentage frequency and mean wind speed by direction, November 1967 to December 1972 28 3.3. Kitimat (Townsite) - percentage frequency wind direction and mean wind speed by months, November 1967 to January 1974 29 3.4. Kitimat 2 (Smelter) - percentage of frequency wind direction and mean wind speed by months, February 1966 to January 1974 30 4.1. Kitimat River estuary drainage basin 34 4.2. Discharge hydrograph for 1970 - Kitimat River below Hirsch Creek, Sta. No. 08FF001 37 5.1. Track chart of stations occupied in Douglas Channel - Kitimat Arm 27-28 September,1967 48 5.2. Surface distribution of salinity in Kitimat Arm during the survey of 27-28 September,1967 50 5.3. Horizontal distribution of salinity at 2 m depth in Kitimat Arm during the survey of 27-28 September,1967 51 5.4. Horizontal distribution of salinity at 4 m depth in Kitimat Arm during the survey of 27-28 September, 1967 52 5.5. Profiles of salinity, temperature, density (aT), and dissolved oxygen at Stn. K-7 on September 28, 1964 53 5.6. Distributions of salinity, temperature and density in vertical sections through Douglas Channel - Kitimat Arm, 27-28 September, 1967 55 LIST OF FIGURES (cont'd). Figure Page 5.7. Distributions of dissolved oxygen (DO), pH and total alkalinity (TA) in vertical section through Douglas Channel - Kitimat Arm, 27-28 September, 1967 56 5.8. Movement of drogues at 2.5 m, released north of Emsley Cove on the west side of Kitimat Arm, during a small ebb, 14 July, 1966 59 5.9. Movement of drogues at 0.5 m, released in the northwest corner of Kitimat Arm at the beginning of a flood tide with southerly winds of 4-6 m/sec (8-12 mph) on 8 July, 1967 61 6.1. Summary of Ectropis crepuscularia populations in the Prince Rupert Forest District 66 6.2. Saddleback looper and spruce budworm 1961 area of infestation at Kitimat, B C 68 7.1. Chart showing the inside waters of the Fisheries and Marine Service Area 6 86 8.1. Diagrammatic representation of vegetation on the Kitimat River estuary 93 8.2. Land units of the lower Kitimat River Valley 97 10.1 Kitimat District land use 115 10.2. Kitimat District recreational areas 119 10.3. Minette Bay - recreational and outdoor educational areas 120 10.4. The Port of Kitimat 124 11.1. Some pollution sources near the Kitimat River estuary 133 11.2. Discharge and sampling points around the Alcan smelter 141 11.3. Plan of effluent disposal on the Eurocan milisite 147 ix. LIST OF TABLES Table Page 2.1. Table of geologic formations - Kitimat Area 11 2.2. Summary of grain size analysis for sediment samples taken at Kitimat Arm, June 24, 1975 16 2.3. Grain size scale for sediments 16 3.1. Kitimat River estuary available weather data 23 3.2.