The Canadian government says it issued two cease-and-desist orders over six years related to an unauthorized waste site on Cowichan Tribes’ Indian Road reserve.

In a written statement Thursday to sixmountains.ca, Indigenous Services Canada spokesperson Carolane Gratton said the government “has not issued any instrument, at any time,” authorizing waste disposal activities on the site.

“The department communicated extensively with the traditional landholder (the Peter family) to explain that waste disposal was not authorized on the site,” Gratton said.

The government says it issued cease-and-desist orders to both Cowichan Tribes and the traditional landholder in 2013 and to the traditional landholder only in 2019.

"We have also collaborated, and continue to work with other agencies, including the First Nations Health Authority, the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service and Cowichan Tribes to share information about this site.”
 
In May 2020, then-chief William Seymour warned against gravel removal and dumping of waste on the same reserve. A news release published in The Citizen said: "The dumping of residential and commercial waste on our reserve lands is illegal, a hazard to the environment, detrimental to the health and safety of our members and brings a financial burden to our community."

James Anthony Peter, a member of Cowichan Tribes, has received a pollution prevention order that cites large-scale unauthorized dumping of waste material on the reserve.

The Ministry of Environment order dated Oct. 2, 2025, pertains to three lots on Indian Road just above the Cowichan River near Allenby Road Bridge where dumped waste is “likely to release substances that will cause pollution.”

The order requires Peter to cease dumping and to submit a remediation plan to the province for review and approval by November 17.

“These materials are known to release substances of concern,” the order said, including heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, copper, iron, lead, manganese and zinc, hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and volatile organic compounds.

Cowichan Tribes has not responded to a request for comment from sixmountains.ca.

The Crown entered a stay of proceedings last July 10 against Peter on two counts under the Environmental Management Act related to pollution and waste violations from 2019 to 2023. The Crown gave no reason for the stay.

Peter also goes by the name Abby, or Abbey, according to court records.

The three lots are legally considered Cowichan Tribes reserve land, according to the pollution prevention order. Historically, the Peter family claimed the land but did not follow through with the process to be granted a certificate of possession for the lots.

While Cowichan Tribes considers the three lots as land to which the Peter family has access, the family does not control its resources, the order says.