Public Comment Period on Intent to Make a Determination
Culvert Replacement at Canadian Forces Ammunition Depot Rocky Point

July 6, 2022 — The Department of National Defence must decide whether the proposed project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform this decision, the Department of National Defence is inviting comments from the public on the project and its potential effects on the environment. All comments received will be considered public. For more information, individuals should consult the Privacy Notice on the Registry website.

Written comments must be submitted by July 15, 2022 to:
Becky MacInnis, Environment Officer / MARPAC Formation Safety and Environment
Mailing Address:  Formation Safety and Environment, Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, PO Box 17000 Station Forces
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, V9A 7N2
E-mail:  Rebecca.MacInnis@forces.gc.ca

The Proposed Project

Canadian Forces Ammunition Depot (CFAD) Rocky Point is a lodger unit of Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Esquimalt located on a peninsula approximately 18km southwest straight distance from Victoria, British Columbia in the District of Metchosin.

Due to the presence of ammunitions stored on the property, a local DND fire detachment is located at CFAD to be able to respond immediately to any fire that could threaten public safety. Access to the south of the property is via gravel range roads - ensuring these roads are maintained and passable is vital to ensuring fire truck access and immediate fire response.

A 900 millimetre, steel corrugated culvert of 12 metres in length with two concrete 90 centimetre headwalls on the primary north-south access road (Figure 1) was washed out by excessive rainfall in fall 2021. Upon inspection, the culvert bottom was also found to have large holes or be completely absent in places due to excessive corrosion. The existing culvert cannot safely support the weight of fire trucks using the road and needs to be removed and replaced to maintain fire response access.

Culvert replacement is expected to be straightforward and completed in the dry on this seasonal, intermittent watercourse. Disturbance to surrounding vegetation and soils will be minimized and work will include:
• Clearing of vegetation (primarily invasive scotch broom and gorse on the outlet/east side and a treed area on the inlet/west side);
• Removal of concrete headwalls with excavator or backhoe;
• Removal of culvert overfill with excavator or backhoe, removal of culvert and culvert debris with appropriate disposal;
• Preparation of culvert bed with 3/4 road base grade gravel using a backhoe or excavator;
• Installation of prefabricated, concrete 900 millimetre diameter culvert of 12 metres in length. If concrete not available, a plastic corrugated culvert of the same size will be used. Culvert to be embedded 1/3 of culvert depth;
• Placement of substrate in culvert to 1/3 culvert depth;
• Installation of prefabricated, 90 centimetre concrete headwalls;
• Backfilling with minimum of 300 millimetre cover;
• Placement of erosion protection (ie riprap) at culvert inlet and outlet;
• Regrading of road; and
• Reseeding with native seed mix where required.