Cowichan Tribes issues stop-work order at third controversial dump site on reserve
Another dump site on the Cowichan Tribes reserve in North Cowichan has received a stop-work order, sixmountains.ca learned Wednesday.
The order dated Jan. 16, 2026, is posted outside a gated property in the 5300-block Indian Road.
The order signed by Cowichan Tribes applies to Lots 291 and 291-1 and demands a stop to the “import and dumping of all materials, and any related works, effective immediately and until further notice.”
Failure to comply will result in legal action, the order says, adding that site access must remain locked and secured.
The order says work has been carried out in violation of Cowichan Tribes Waste Management Bylaw No. 1, Sections 3 and 6.
Section 3 states: “No person shall dump agriculture, household or any other waste materials on Reserve lands.”
Section 6 applies to the transport of agricultural or any other waste onto the reserve without a valid certificate.
(Submitted photo of dump trucks entering the dump site in December 2025)
A similar stop-work order is posted outside a home across the street.
sixmountains.ca visited the gated dump site and observed mounds of dirt and what appeared to be broken concrete in the background. There were no-trespassing and no-dumping signs posted.
Tribes did not respond to a request for comment.
This is only the latest dump site on Cowichan Tribes reserve land to make the news in recent months.
sixmountains.ca reported on Oct. 25, 2025, that the BC Environment Ministry had issued a pollution prevention order against James Anthony Peter of 5544 Indian Road for unauthorized dumping of waste material on three lots on reserve land. Canada had issued two cease-and-desist orders at the site, in 2013 and 2019. https://www.sixmountains.ca/article/fdaaf885-11e9-432e-9041-aa3c4f965a5e
(Last October, BC issued a pollution prevention order against James Anthony Peter)
On Nov. 21, 2025, sixmountains.ca reported that Fisheries and Ocean Canada had issued a Corrective Measures Order for restoration of fish habitat impacted by the “unauthorized partial infilling of Tzouhalem Creek” on the Cowichan Tribes reserve near Cowichan Bay. Tribes also issued a stop-work order for that site. https://www.sixmountains.ca/article/ff1bdaf3-5cf5-4bcc-915c-baaf1b1f3560
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— Larry Pynn, Jan. 28, 2026