'Very active' landslide near Valemount puts seniors' home, residences, businesses on evacuation alert

Officials in the mountain village of Valemount, B.C., are monitoring a "very active" landslide that could cut offthe drinking water supply forabout 2,000 people and create a destructive debris flow.

Forty properties in one area of the village, including asenior citizens'home, private homes, a BC Hydro works yard, a hotel, liquor store, pizzeriaand a water distribution businesswere all puton evacuation alert Thursday afternoon, even though officials say the risk appears to be abating.

The landslide is located above Swift Creek, aroundthreekilometresfrom the northernboundary of Valemount, which lies around 260 kilometres southeastof Prince George, B.C.

On Tuesday morning, the slide was about 200 metres from Swift Creek, the village's sole source of drinking water.

But Wayne Robinson,chief administrative officer for the Village of Valemount, said the land had startedmoving horizontallyinstead of down towardthe creek, and said a destructive slide is now "not very likely."

"The landslide's footprint more than doubled in just two days, but seems to have slowed down a bit," Robinson told CBC News.

Still, the village wants people to be prepared to leave their homes and businesses at a moment's notice.

Robinsonsays the village is carefully monitoring the situationin case the slideblocks the creek, cutting offthe drinking water supply and causing a build-up of rocks, mud, and water that could potentially destroy homes and businesses downstream.

"It would be very serious," Robinsonsaid.

Trans Mountain work camp affected

People in the area are also being advised to plan to use differentwater sources.

Swift Creek provides drinking water for about 1,000 residents of the village,as well as hundreds of tourists visiting the areaand more than 600 people at a Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion work camp.

Trans Mountain has provided 24-hour security crews to monitor the creek and watch for any blockages, said Robinson.

Officials don't yet know what triggeredthe slide, but say the rugged area has been unstablesince long before the village was founded.

Valemount lies around 30 kilometres from Mount Robson Provincial Park, where in early July a dramatic flood and debris flowshut down the renownedBerg Lake backcountry trail andforced the evacuation of about 40 hikers, some by helicopter.