Peat Mining

In Europe, peat has been used as a fuel source for hundreds of years. Generally, the deeper peat of raised bogs is preferable for fuel, because the deeper peat is more compressed and lends itself to better burning. The top layer of bogs is less compressed and not as valuable as a fuel source, but this fluffier peat has been widely used in horticulture as a soil conditioner, a growing medium, and a mulch. However, many scientists in recent years have suggested that peat is not a sustainable resource because peat-mining involves loss of peatland habitats, which can take hundreds of years to regenerate and may never return to their original condition. Alternatives to using peat for gardening include garden compost, leaf compost, wood chips, manure, and coir (coconut fibre).

There is an interesting history of peat mining in Burns Bog. In 1929, Western Peat Company was organized to explore the use of local peat deposits. In 1938, BC Peat Company Ltd. purchased 1000 acres of the Burns Ranch (at a price of $25/acre) and went before Delta Council to present their plans for construction of a $75,000 peat plant and access road in the bog. The United States was expected to be the largest market for the peat, and it was noted that the Burns Bog peat was “of exceptionally good quality” (Delta Optimist, June, 1938). The production process failed, and the company ceased operations after expending $300,000. Atkins & Durbrow Ltd. took over production later on, and successfully operated in the bog until 1964, at which time they were bought out by Western Peat Moss Ltd. (The Delta Centenary 1878-1979).

Peat mining really took off during World War II when the U.S. Government sourced peat from Burns Bog to use as a catalytic agent in refining magnesium for fire bombs. During the war, there were 1,600 workers on the payroll of Western Peat Company. Two peat plants were established in Burns Bog, one on the east side in 1942 and one on the west side in 1944. As noted in a 1945 newspaper article, “Delta, Richmond, and Pitt Meadows all have tremendous areas where there is nothing but peat. The tram from Marpole to New Westminster travels through thousands of acres of bog where the cutting, stacking, and drying goes on as it has for centuries.” The Optimist reported that this peat industry was a higher priority than shipyards, aircraft factories, or the shipping of spruce for airplanes. More than 100,000 bales of local peat were shipped to a magnesium production plant near Las Vegas. Procurement of peat was so vital to the war effort that the US government at one point considered the purchase of 200 acres of bog on nearby Lulu Island.

Interior photo of the peat factory, possibly in the 1940s or 1950s (Delta Museum and Archives)

Interior photo of the peat factory, possibly in the 1940s or 1950s (Delta Museum and Archives)

Interior photo of the peat factory, possibly in the 1940s or 1950s (Delta Museum and Archives)

Western Peat, the major producer of Burns Bog peat at the time, constructed roads and ditches throughout the bog, as well as sixteen kilometers of railway designed to get the peat out as easily and quickly as possible. Click here for an interesting 1952 newspaper article about a ride on the Burns Bog train. These railways still exist in the bog today, but they have been overgrown by vegetation and are only unearthed after a disturbance like the large fire in 2005.

Peat-harvesting train in Burns Bog, circa 1945

Old railway discovered after a fire in Burns Bog (Photo by Don DeMill)

Old railway and overturned peat-hauling car in Burns Bog, 2005 (Photo: Sarah Howie)

Derelict train engine in Burns Bog, 2005 (Photo: Sarah Howie)

Close-up of rusting train engine, 2005 (Photo: Sarah Howie) "

Over the years, four different methods were used to harvest peat from Burns Bog. In the early days, the peat was cut by hand. Drainage ditches were dug to make the bog drier and easier to access, and then the surface was cleared of vegetation. Vertical trenches were cut in the peat with a chainsaw, from which blocks of peat were dug with shovels to a depth of about 0.5 m. The blocks were stacked to dry and then transported to the nearby peat plant for processing.

Worker cutting peat in Burns Bog (Western Peat brochure, circa 1945)

Peat cubes drying in the sun (Western Peat brochure, circa 1945)

After the war, technological innovation allowed for mechanization of what was certainly back-breaking work for peat miners. Between 1952 and 1980, Western Peat Company used a “vacuum method” to harvest the fluffy top layers of peat for horticultural purposes. The peat surface was loosened using tractors pulling harrows and discs, and then vacuum harvesting machines drove over the surface and sucked up a thin (2 cm) layer of peat, sometimes several times on the same field.

Another type of harvesting technology used in Burns Bog was the “hydropeat method”. Unlike the vacuum method, which required the bog to be drained enough for the large vacuum machines to drive on the surface, the hydropeat method worked best in wet conditions. A hoverbarge (see photos below) allowed a backhoe to sit on the wet bog surface and scoop out the peat, then placing it onto screens. The peat was blasted with water using hoses similar to fire-fighting hoses, removing roots and debris to make a peat slurry that could be pumped to the peat plant. Both Western Peat Company and Atkins & Durbrow employed this method after the war, continuing right up until the end of peat operations in the early 1980s.

Peat moss extraction equipment working in Burns Bog, ca. 1983 (Delta Museum and Archives)

Derelict hoverbarge in Burns bog, 2007 (Photo: Sarah Howie)

Close-up of old hoverbarge, 2007 (Photo: Sarah Howie)

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