Britannia Beach (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh: Shisháyu7áy, [ʃɪʃæjʊʔaj]) is a small unincorporated community in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District located approximately 55 kilometres north of Vancouver, British Columbia on the Sea-to-Sky Highway on Howe Sound.
It includes the nearby Britannia Creek, a small to mid-sized stream that flows into Howe Sound that was historically one of North America's most polluted waterways.
[8] On October 28, 1921 after a full day of torrential rain, a massive flood destroyed much of that portion of the community and mine operations that existed on the lower beach area.
The Britannia Mining and Smelting Company tried to minimize turnover by providing amenities and implementing family-friendly policies.
A thriving social calendar saw sporting events, theatrical productions, dances, movies and parties held throughout the year.
The connections made it easier to transport the copper, but high operating costs and taxes eventually forced the mine to close on November 1, 1974.
The company did not attempt to clean up the mine and chemical wastes that it produced, since environmental protection laws had not yet been enacted and enforcement of the Fisheries Act was never applied.
A newly elected labour government presented higher anticipated union costs and the ore vein had already been 'highgraded'.
[11] Though the early settlers of Britannia Beach were primarily single white men, the company town was considered quite diverse.
47 was passed in 1900 by the Canadian Government, Japanese and Chinese workers were not permitted to work underground, but were able to take jobs above the ground.
[16] A two-kilometre (1.2 mi) strip of coastal waters along Britannia Beach was seriously polluted, affecting 4.5 million juvenile chum salmon from the Squamish Estuary.
[17] In the summer of 2001, the Province of British Columbia formally announced that a large-scale treatment plant would be built to neutralize the run-off coming from the old mine site.
Although the treatment plant did not become fully operational until 2006, its construction marked a pivotal turning point for Howe Sound and the community of Britannia Beach.
Field monitoring done in 2003, using intertidal algae and mussels as ecological indicators, showed that the recovery of coastal biological communities was actually minimal.
[19] However, recovery of Britannia Creek was significant and the amount of copper and zinc in the total discharge waters declined by about 20%.
As part of the reclamation work undertaken by the Provincial government, since 2004[20] they are undertaking an environmental monitoring program the recovery of Britannia Creek and Howe Sound.
[22][23][24][25] Other species that have returned to Howe Sound include killer whales and Pacific white-sided dolphins are now regularly seen near the creek's outlet.
Many events took place during Miners day which included drilling, mucking, diving (aquatic), running, and bicycle decorating competitions.
Dances, parties, movies and picnics were held and there were ample areas for hiking, swimming and fishing with the beautiful Howe Sound as a backdrop.