IWA By MAURICE CORBEIL Regional 3rd Vice-President The past year was a very busy and exciting year for me as I] was fortunate to serve in the capacity of Regional 3rd Vice-President, and also served as a member of the Regional Negotiating Commit- tee which was involved in lengthy negotiations on cate- gory revisions and negotia- tions of the new 1966-67 con- tract. All of this was time consuming and at times very frustrating, however, there was a certain amount of satis- faction in the results. MAURICE CORBEIL As Financial Secretary of Local 1-85, Port Alberni, and Secretary of the Port Alberni and District Labour Council, I was able to assist my fellow officers in the Labour Council to lodge strong protests with the Provincial Government on the most serious problem that afflicts Alberni Valley residents — pollution from the MacMillan & Bloedel Pulp Mill. In January and February of this year while FIGHT AGAINST POLLUTION M. & B. was boasting of breaking world records for newsprint production, hog fuel was being forced through inadequate boilers which re- sulted in black fly ash cover- ing the Albernis to the extent that when snow fell, we had black snow, when snow was cleared off the sidewalks the fly ash would pile up to the extent that footprints could be seen on the wet sidewalks. Only after the force of anta- gonistic public opinion, which resulted in petitions, demon- strations, and strong protest from our Labour Council and other citizen groups, did M. & B. see fit to take steps to somewhat alleviate tnis situa- tion. ; LABOUR BRIEF On March 3, 1966, our La- bour Council presented a brief to the Provincial Cabi- net Committee on Pollution. The brief extensively pointed out that the fly-ash situation was only a minor part of our pollution problems, aithough very dirty, but not as danger- ous to humans as the continu- ous discharge of gas fumes into the air which include, amongst other things, chlorine and nitrogenous gases. The discharge of these gases into the air has the effect of in- creasing the load on our res- piratory system and exposes SOOT on fresh fallen snow indicates the presence of fly ash from the Port Alberni pulp mill in the atmosphere. CITIZENS of the Alberni valley march in protest against pollution. our skin and eyes to irritants and allergens. The Alberni Valley has four to five times as many hospital admissions for acute bronchitis as do any comparable areas in B.C. The water in the Alberni Canal is dirty brown in colour_ as a result of the dumping of wood residues and esuent from the pulping process, and we are concerned with its harmful effects on aquatic life. This situation is caused by the fact that the Pulp Mill requires 42.5 million gallons of fresh water daily. This water must then be fiushed out into sewage as waste, carrying with it effluent, a mixture of dissolved chemi- cals, wood fibres, amid dis- solved lignin. Our brief requested the im- mediate enaction of rigid pol- lution legislation and the set- ting up of a Pollution Control’ Board to enforce the legisla- tion. We also requested that enough funds be made avail- able by the Provincial Gov- ernment to the Pollution Con- trol Board to offer sufficient financial renumeration to at- tract skilled and dedicated engineers, biologists, chem - ists, meteorologists, medical personnel, practical inspec- tors, and public information officers. The Cabinet Pollution Committee consisting of Min- isters Williston (chairman), Loffmark, and Campbell gave the Labour Council Commit- tee a favourable hearing and indicated sympathy to- wards our problem, but so far no legislation has been indicated and the prob- lem of pollution continues to be with us. lt is our opinion that the recent suggestion of the Social Credit government that pollution is a local re- sponsibility and it should be placed in the hands of region- al districts is just another way of passing the buck. Re- gional districts have not yet been formed in most areas of this province, and even if they were they would not have the necessary reserves to handle such a large problem. In our opinion the Provincial Gov- ernment should take the full responsibility for control of air, water, and land pollution. The Port Alberni and Dis- trict Council together with many other interested groups in the Alberni Valley will not rest until all pollution is com- pletely eliminated. HANEY BUSINESS GUIDE ESQUIRE MEN’S WEAR | (Graham Mowatt) Complete Stock of Work and Dress Clothing “THE STORE WITH THE POPULAR BRANDS” HANEY BRITISH COLUMBIA -Be Comfortable This Winter... PETROLEUM SERVICES CALL TODAY FOR YOUR HOME HEATING OIL DUNCAN - - - 746-5842 NANAIMO - - - 754-6532 ALBERNI - - - 723-2831 COURTENAY - - 338-8181 VANCOUVER - HE. 4-4949 HANEY - - - - 462-7262 ABBOTSFORD - 859-9718 CLOVERDALE - 596-3348 NORTH SURREY CO-OP’S ARE OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE MEMBERS THEY SERVE!