IWA members in Salmon
Arm have charged that
pressure on the government
from a small but highly vocal
minority group is endangering
the jobs of sawmill workers in
the area.

The members state than an
environmental group known as
the Shuswap-Thompson River
Research and Development
Association (STRRADA) won
the support of the NDP-MLA in
the area to convince the
provincial government that the
Federated Co-op’s Lee Creek
booming grounds were having
harmful effects on the fish and
wildlife.

The government, acting on

- this information and without

making a proper investigation,
ordered the Company to clean
up the booming grounds and be
prepared to have it phased out
within two years.

Neither the Company nor the
Salmon Arm District Council
were given the right to submit
their views. The government
maintained that the order
stood, even though ecology
experts and the Fisheries
Department have testified that
the booming grounds present
no pollution problem to either
the lake’s ecology or its fish
life.

IWA members are up in

arms over the government’s

high handed attitude. They
fear that if STRRADA can
pressure the government into
phasing out one booming
ground, it can get rid of them
all. This would leave the
Company no alternative but to
relocate its mills elsewhere,
and four hundred IWA
members could be jobless in
the Salmon Arm area. .

The Union has now drawn up
a petition with 640 names

HANDLE ?

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which demands a full scale
investigation of all factors by
impartial experts and that the
final report be made available
to anyone interested.

An accompanying presen-
tation stated in part:

‘Sf it is wrong to put logs into
the lake at Lee Creek, then it is
wrong to have logs in the lake

‘at any point and, we want to

know where that leaves our job
security?

“The only single answer we
have been able to obtain from
the supporters of the closure of
the Lee Creek dump is that
when trucking is possible the
lake should not be used.”

By this same rationale, it
was suggested to council, it can
be stated it is wrong to use
boats when roads
available; outboard motors
when oars are available; to go
bathing in the lake when
bathtubs or swimming pools
are available. ~

“We in the IWA want to see
as many people enjoy the
rewarding benefits of the
Shuswap Lake as possible. But
we also want those people to
consider their own personal
pleasures.

“The lake can provide a
multiple of uses and benefits,”’
the brief said. “We suggest
that the towing and sorting of
logs is one of those benefits.”

The submission went on to
suggest that: “If the Lee Creek
dump is phased out, the only
major change we might expect
is the addition of another
marina on Shuswap Lake.

“We are only asking for a full
scale investigation by an
impartial body; and that their
findings be made public. The
question we want answered is:

“Was the Lee Creek dump
phased-out order issued as the

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result of a small self-interest
pressure group?”

In a letter submitted to the
Salmon “Arm District Council,
M.A. Persson, Federated Co-
op manager, pointed out the
implications of the booming
ground closure order.

In 1973, he said, 20 booms of
logs were towed from Lee
Creek to Canoe. This is equal to
5,500 truck loads if it be comes
necessary to move the same
number of logs by road.

Persson noted the news is
now full of the ‘‘energy crisis.”
Looking at this in energy

‘terms, he said, each tow of logs

requires some 800 gallons of
diesel fuel, or 16,000 gallons a
year.

By contrast, he said, the 80-
mile round trip by truck
requires some 13.3 gallons of
fuel. Trucking 5,500 loads
requires some 73,150 gallons.
“We therefore have a gross
waste of nearly 60,000 gallons
of fuel,’’ Persson claims.

Turning to traffic congestion
and hazard, Persson said: ‘‘We
only have to look at 5,500 trucks
moving both to and from Lee
Creek-Canoe to visualize the
potential for highway deaths,
plus the congestion of traffic
through the Salmon Arm
municipality.

In all likelihood because of
the additional mileage in-
volved, it would be necessary
to operate a 16 to 20 hour
operating day.”’

POLLUTION :

With reference to pollution,
Persson said it is widely ac-
cepted that 51 per cent of air

PAB ee oa pace SS
SERIES aL ee Re

pollution on this continent is
from the combustion engine.
“Apply the truck haul principle
and we are certainly adding an
impressive amount to the air
pollution problem,” he said.

Dealing with public finances,
Persson told council that the
system of appraising crown
revenue is based on allowing
operating costs. The added
cost of moving logs from Lee
Creek to Canoe by truck, would
be approximately $30 per
truckload, he said.

“Tf you follow this through

‘you calculate an additional

cost of $165,000 per year which
if applied under the present
appraisal system, would be of
direct loss to crown revenue
and, of course, indirectly to the
people of the province in-
cluding Salmon Arm.”

Persson suggested the lands
department ruling was the
result of the “‘clamour of a
very small but very vocal
group in the Lee Creek area
who, for very personal
reasons, have engaged the
support of our local member
and STRRADA.

“Today’s society and
governments at all levels react

MARCH, 1974

to minority groups in many
cases, without consideration to
effects that follow on society as
a whole,” he said.

Persson warned that the Lee
Creek ruling could be just ‘a
wedge in the door, and the
same ruling could later be
applied to Magna Bay, Albas
and Wilson Creek where a
further 6,000 to 7,000 loads of
logs are towed yearly to Canoe.
A similar decision at these
points could result in another
6,000-7,000 trucks on the roads,
he said.

Persson suggested council
examine the situation closely
in view of the fact the rationale
for the log dump decision was
based on the word ‘‘pollution.”’

He also referred council to

the reports of Dr. Skulmberg of |

Corvallis University, ‘‘who
spent three years of research

‘to determine that very little if

any true pollution can ‘be at-
tributed to logs in water.”
“The points in the letter, he
said, were drawn to the at-
tention of the local member,

the lands minister and
department; apparently
without influencing the

decision, he said.

MORRIS SEEKS POST

Joe Morris, Canadian Labour Congress Executive Vice- .
President and a former president of IWA Regional Council
No. 1, has confirmed his intention to contest the CLC
presidency when Donald MacDonald, incumbent president,
retires at the May convention in Vancouver.

Secretary-Treasurer William’ Dodge announced his

candidacy some months ago.

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