Our Team
Our Mission

Mount Work Coalition is a group of concerned and engaged citizens who have joined together with the vision that the Mount Work region can be a generational legacy of green space that supports biodiversity, addresses climate change and reduces the impact of human activity on the environment.

Our Mission

To provide voice and support for the protection and responsible stewardship of the Mount Work area through education, advocacy and research.

Our Goals

To encourage CRD staff and board, and the Province to make sound and transparent decisions that support the responsible management of the Mount Work area including the Hartland facility. Further, that these decisions be made on the basis of meaningful community consultation, evidence-based research, and long-term, well thought out solutions.

To educate and promote Mount Work area as a natural recreational area for the South Island region and to work with CRD and Saanich Council to ensure that the public enjoyment of the area is not disrupted by increased traffic, industrial activity or expansion of the Hartland facility.

To advocate for the reduction of the environmental footprint of the Hartland landfill operations including mitigating any further damage or disruption to the surrounding natural ecosystem.

To educate the public and local decision makers about the importance of the Mount Work area and to advocate for the protection of the biodiversity of the region.

About The Mount Work Coalition

Mount Work Coalition is a group of committed volunteers who came together in 2019 in response to CRD’s plans to expand the Hartland Landfill putting at risk the natural recreation area and critical habitat that makes up the Mount Work area. Mount Work area includes the regional park, the Gowlland Tod Provincial Park, and Durrance Lake. It has been classified as critical habitat for threatened and endangered vegetation communities and wildlife. The last remaining stand of Douglas Fir is located within the area.

The Mount Work Coalition is not a Society, but simply a coalition funded solely through donations and community fundraising efforts (bottle drives) which are used to cover the administrative costs (website, domain name registry and office supplies).

Every day people from across the South Island region come to Mount Work to hike, swim, bike and enjoy the natural environment. In addition, the Mount Work area is a primary source of fresh water for surrounding communities and farms. The Mount Work area, through Tod Creek, directly feeds into Tod Inlet and the adjacent marine area.

Over the past few years, the Coalition has learned that the CRD’s plans for the Mount Work region are much more expansive than initially revealed through a basic information session provided by CRD staff.

CRD is proposing to make the following changes to the Mount Work Area:

• Expanding the area of the Hartland Landfill through blasting and destroying the natural area surrounding the current landfill. Critical habitat will be destroyed, and local wildlife will be threatened by the noise and disruption of the decades long blasting process. As well, hiking and mountain-biking trails including those most accessible to entry level bikers will be lost.

• Spreading toxic biosolids on the ground and in forests at Hartland Landfill. For decades, CRD has banned the spreading of biosolids on land due to the risks to neighbouring communities. In 2019, they reversed their longstanding policy to approve the spreading of toxic biosolids twice a year. Local farms, groundwater, and the nearby homes will be directly impacted by this threat. In 2021 CRD began spreading biosolids on the surface at Hartland despite evidence of toxicity and risk to the surrounding wetlands, watersheds and farms. Currently (December 2021) Hartland continues to spread much of the produced biosolids due to inability of the treatment plant to produce safe biosolids for incineration at LaFarge Cement Plant on the Mainland.

• Moving the Hartland Landfill access from Hartland Avenue to Willis Point Road. Related to the landfill expansion, CRD staff are proposing to move all the truck and vehicle traffic from Hartland Avenue to Willis Point Road despite the fact that Willis Point Road is a critical access point for residents of the Highlands and Willis Point communities, as well as commuters from the western communities, is the primary roadway for the recreational users of Mount Work area, and transects through the natural ecosystem. Heavy industrial traffic through this sensitive habitat will critically impact the 16 Species at Risk known to exists in the Hartland/Mount Work ecosystem and watershed.

  The move to Willis Point will directly impact the Interurban Trail that extends from West Saanich along Wallace Drive and cyclists will have to directly compete with the truck traffic. Operationally the entrance to Hartland Landfill could continue to serve as the primary access even if planned expansion goes ahead–Hartland staff have confirmed that Hartland access through the landfill can be continued using the aggregate that will be extracted by the landfill expansion.

If this concerns you, consider joining the Mount Work Coalition.
Many voices can make a difference!