Chief Roland Willson and members of the West Moberly First Nations, located in northeastern British Columbia, came to the legislature in Victoria with more than 90 kilograms of Bull trout packed in two coolers.

 

The fish were there to illustrate a recent study by the band that concluded 98 per cent of their fish samples contain mercury levels above provincial guidelines. The study examined 57 fish taken from the Crooked River, where fish migrate from the Williston Lake reservoir.

 

Willson said the contaminated Bull trout are connected to that reservoir, which was created as part of the 1960s-era W.A.C. Bennett dam.

 

He warned similar contamination could result from the proposed $9-billion Site C hydroelectric dam and 83-kilometre-long reservoir in the Peace River Valley near Fort St. John.