TCH reroute will cause run-off, says watershed group

A watershed group says it is worried the realignment of the Trans-Canada Highway will cause run-off in the West River, despite reassurances by P.E.I.'s environment minister.

Janice Sherry gave the controversial project to realign a portion of the highway between New Haven and Bonshaw astamp of approvalon Monday.

She imposed 11 conditionson construction, many of which deal with sediment run-off.

The West River Watershed Group has been involved in severalprojectsaimed at reducing sediment in the river over decades.

"Any erosion control measures are likely not going to work when you have five to seven months of bare ground. We could see some very serious erosion occurring despite any kind of measures that they put in to control that," said Megan Harris, the group's coordinator.

"There's always a risk associated whenever you have bare ground. There's a riskyou can't control the weather. We are concerned about sediment when we are spending a lot of time and money trying to take sediment out of the West River rather than having it come back in again."

The environment and transportation departments will monitor construction and stop it if there is sediment run-off into the rivers, said Sherry.