Materials & resources

Case studies

Materials & resources

Green Shores for Coastal Development® GOLD

Riverbend Business Park becomes certified Green Shores for Coastal Development® GOLD, by the Stewardship Centre for British Columbia.

The project began in 2011 when Oxford acquired the Riverbend lands (Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada). These lands are adjacent to the Big Bend section of the Fraser River. Prior to development, the lands contained a non-operational landfill and had been the site of former heavy industrial uses that extended along most of the shoreline.

As part of Oxford’s commitment, the development would remove the contaminated landfill material and perform site remediation, including innovative flood protection and stormwater management application, along with shoreline restoration. This project retained and improved the local habitat, restored physical processes along more than 1,000 metres of shoreline, and also retained and restored native shrub and tree vegetation, thereby increasing site diversity for local birds and amphibians. A wastewater treatment system was also installed to treat parking lot runoff entering the river. The team worked with local officials and consultants to develop an innovative flood protection dike that supports natural riparian function – demonstrating how cumulative impacts of developments can be minimized or avoided.

Public education signs are shared along the newly established shoreline, which is now home to a community trail. These signs describe the unique development’s work to preserve, restore, and enhance habitat and natural processes. See here for more details.