Dr. Afia Raja, Assistant Professor from the School of Land Use and Environmental Change was recently interviewed on the CTV Vancouver News on the topic of the environmental impact of abandoned homeless camps on the Chilliwack River.
“It’s different kinds of minerals as well that are toxic to the fishes and to the whole aquatic life that gets threatened due to these pollutants,” Raja said
Deformities in the fish’: Pollutants found in waterways near Fraser Valley encampments
Michele Brunoro
Anchor / Multi-skilled Journalist, CTV News Vancouver
February 2, 2023
Hidden along old logging roads and tucked in near rivers and waterways, are campers who have made Crown land near the Chilliwack River their homes.
Some of the encampments have been here for months, and there are old trailers as well as make-shift shelters.
“The Fraser Valley has experienced a 48 per cent increase in homelessness,” said Afia Raja, an assistant professor of land use and environment change at the University of the Fraser Valley.
She’s referencing the most recent numbers available from a homeless count in 2021. But a count later this year is expected to show a growing number of unhoused people.