Boys & Girls Camp – Water Update
Hello parents of Boys and Girls’ campers!
As I am sure you have heard, on Monday there was a leak in one of the mine runoffs at Mount Polley, creating some contamination of Quesnel Lake. Camp Likely was notified of this leak as soon as it was announced by the CRD. Immediate precautions were taken because of the possibility of our water being contaminated. The waterfront and all lake activities were immediately cancelled, and we discontinued all usage of the lake water into our water system and we switched onto our well, which is our back up water source. Thankfully, we found out early in the day, so no water activities had begun, therefore no campers or staff were in contact with the possibly contaminated water. As a ban was placed on Quesnel Lake, no water has been used or been in contact with since this the announcement came out.
I hope that in this post I am able to address the majority of concerns that you may have, but please feel free to respond with any further questions or concerns.
As previously mentioned, we have switched onto our back up well as our water source. The water from the well goes through our water purification system, which includes numerous filters, UV light screening, and chlorination, therefore it meets health board standards. The CRD has advised that water sources be 100-300 feet away from Quesnel Lake in order to be certain that the water has not been contaminated, and our well is over 150 feet above the maximum advised distance away from the lake, therefore there is no concern of our well water being contaminated. In addition to well water, we are having purified water shipped in from Williams Lake and added to our system, as a way of ensuring that our water source does not become limited.
In regards to the waterfront, all activities pertaining to the lake have been cancelled. This includes tubing, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, and rock skipping. We are taking all possible steps to ensure that no camper or staff member comes into contact with the water.
We have not yet received information as to the state of contamination and how far it is spread, or if our water is specifically effected, however we are operating as though the water is contaminated in order to ensure safety, until we find out differently. We will be informed of test results in the next few days.
There has also been some concern in regards to road conditions. As of right now, the road out to Camp Likely has not been affected. A salvage crew is taking debris out of the river before it can reach the Likely bridge. Currently we are not concerned that the bridge will be affected by the debris. You can be sure that if this changes we will contact you immediately regarding a new route to travel to reach Camp Likely.
I hope this answers any questions you have in regards to the water situation in specific. We are currently running our Kids’ Camp, and I would like to give you some information on how it is going in order to hopefully give you some peace if mind as you prepare to send your child to camp.
We are having a great week at camp. Alternate activities have been put into place and the kids are laughing, smiling, and full of energy. They are being kept busy and entertained, and the lack of water activities is not even a topic of conversation! We are encouraged that they are indeed having a good time here at camp. We have an incredible group of staff, and they are all fully committed to making sure that the kids making good, lasting memories this week.
We are not planning to cancel camp for next week as we are able to run a full and enjoyable program even with the lack of waterfront. We will be receiving information in the next few days as to whether our water, specifically, is able to be used for activities. After we have received that information, I will be contacting you personally by phone in order to share that information with you.
Please feel free to email if you have any further questions at office@camplikely.com
Thank-you,
Melissa Fraser & Kate Reid on behalf of Camp Likely Board, Staff & Volunteers
