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RUPERT

by Michael Kelly

TERRACE — On Monday night,
the same night a public mecting
was scheduled to take place in
Kitimat to discuss the Kitimat
Marine Port Development prospec-

tus and the night before a meeting

in Terrace on the same subject,
representatives of another com-
munity were here to remind
officials that there is alteady a

large port in the region — in.

Prince Rupert. . .
A host of senior managemen'
people from the Prince Rupert Port

Corporation held a reception at the.

Inn of the West as a sort of
outreach gesture, then drove to
Kitimat to be present at the public
meeting. At the Terrace reception,
attended by city council members
Ruth Hallock and Bob Cooper and
mayor Jack Talstra, Rupert port
reps were able to air their view of
the port’s role in the region and
their reasons for being suspicious
of the idea of developing a second
port a relatively short distance
away.

Don Siedler, chief executive
officer for the port corporation,
described the Kitimat concept as
"duplication and waste". He
expressed concern that the govern-
ment is promoting a competing
port and noted that the develop-
ment, as described in the prospec-

PORT A ‘POLITICAL MATTER’,
GROUP CONCLUDES

tus, would be financed entirely
with taxpayers’ money.

"The studies show there would
not be enough traffic... it doesn’t

add up," Siedler said. Noting that

the projected traffic would .come to
Kitimat at the expense of existing
terminals — 80 percent of it from
Prince Rupert and 20 percent from
the south —- at the possible
expense of 40 jobs in Prince

Rupert, Siedler commented, "Tt is
difficult.to see how it could have a
positive impact on the region as a

_ whole."

Siedler was adamant that the
Prince Rupert operation, contrary
to popular belief, is entirely self-
financing. A drop in traffic that
would come from the establish-
ment of a competing port in Kiti-
mat, however, would affect the
corporation’s ability to repay 4
federal government loan used to
finance the Fairview terminal
expansion, Sicdler said.

All the port’s capital expendi-

tures, he said later, have to be

approved by federal authorities on
the basis of their financial viabil-
ity.

The recently expanded, three-
berth Fairview Terminal is
presently operating at about 40
percent capacity. Fairview would
suffer the most lost traffic of any
of the Rupert port components if
the Kitimat plan goes ahead. The

decision to expand came two years
ago when Fairview was approach-
ing its annual capacity of 900,000
tonnes per year of shipping, most

of that lumber. When the expan-

sion was complete, however, world
lumber markets took a dive.

According to Skeena MLA Dave
Parker, the Kitimat port would
ship the same goods as are now
shipped through Fairview. The port
prospectus indicates that the only
high-probability commodity
shipped through a Kitimat port
would be lumber.

In an interview after his presen-
tation, Siedler said the Kitimat
development would be “a bad
decision for the region... the indi-
cations seem that the Kitimat mat-
ter is politically ‘motivated.

"If Kitimat goes ahead, we'll still
be there, even if we’re a sub-
sidized port... But is it prudent to
do this?"

Representatives of the Prince
Rupert Port Corporation also
intended to be present at a public

meeting on the Kitimat Port

Development Prospectus held in
Terrace last night. The. prospectus
is in the public examination stage
of the Major Project Review Pro-
cess. The MPRP steering commit-
tee will receive public comment
and submissions until April 12.

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Terrace Review — Wednesday, March 20, 1991 A3

he asks. Watmough then suggests
that Kitimat already has a Harbour
Master, and adds, "What else is
required?”

Watmough suggested there is no
need for a Port Authority, what
was being suggested was small
enough that the District of Kitimat
could take care of things.

According to Watmough, "Direc-
tor Brady said last night that they

_would not have authority over

Alcan, Ocelot or over Eurocan. So
what's left? Why do you need a
port authority?"

There was no apparent end to his
questions. Who will pay? What
direct revenue will come out of
this? Does the regional district,
Kitimat or anyone else collect

dollars for tonnage passing through .

the port?

Brady suggested to Watmough
that no one around the regional
table knew the answers to these
questions, and if they wanted the
answers, they would have to attend

either the Kitimat or Terrace pub-
lic meetings.

But this didn’t slow Watmough,
who suggested the proposed dock
configuration was all wrong, "This
is the last available water that you
people have down there," he told
Brady, "and the design is going to
fill half that water with and."

Sandy Sandhals said, "I question
the port itself. All I see it doing is
taking a few ships from Prince
Rupert and sending them on to
Kitimat."

Sandhals also spoke to the en-

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. a Port — Continues from page Al

vironmental sensitivity of the pro-
posed area, suggesting that any
excavation at the mouth of the
Kitimat River was a bad idea. He
also questioned the project’s over:
all suitability, describing it as a
litle crowded and possibly even
hazardous.

He concluded, "I don’t like ‘the

thought of the corridor between
Kitimat and Terrace being an
industrial corridor.”

This, then, led back to the public
meetings. Les Watmough didn’t
want to go. He said he didn’t have
the authority to speak on behalf of
the board and offer comments
about the diversion of cargo from
Prince Rupert to Kitimat.

Brady was quick to answer. No
one, he said, except the chairman
had the authority to speak on
behalf of the board. The board
chairman, Jack Talstra, is also a
member of the board for the Kiti-
mat-Terrace Port Society.

Because of his role in port
development then, Talstra sug-
gested that the regional district
vice-chairman could speak in his
place. but the vice-chairman is
Kitimat

development proponent Ray Brady.
This brought Hazelton director
Pete Weeber to the floor. "If there
is to be a presentation on behalf of
this board next Tuesday, I object
strenuously," he said. "There are
very obvious differences of opinion
here and I would not want to see
anything presented unless it is in
writing and approved by the
board."
Watmough agreed, but opted for
time. Regional district administra-
tion had only a week to review the
prospectus and the directors had
only Friday night. He suggested it
was a little unreasonable to expect
they could have a response ready
for Tuesday. "We’ve been talking
about a port for 10 years,” he said.

But regional planner Tosh Yama-
shita noted that the submission
deadline for the Major Project
Review Process is April 26, almost
a week after next month’s regionai
district meeting.

In the end, a couple of motions
were passed. From Brady, a two-
part motion: That the Regional
District of Kitimat-Stikine give
support in principle to the port
proposal and that the Ministry of
Highways and Transportation take
port development into considera-
tion when examining future traffic
patterns and flows. And that the
Regional District of Kitimat-Sti-
kine voice concern over the future
make up of the Kitimat, Port
Authority and the industrial land
mass that it will have authority
over.

And from Weeber and Sandhals:
That administration solicit the

opinions of the various board

members and try to hammer out a
consensus that can-be put in the
form of a submission to the Major
Project Review Process, the body
responsible for collecting public
input regarding the proposed port
development.

On the first motion, opposition
was recorded from Sandhais, Wat-
mough and Alice Maitland. With
regard to the second, April 20 will
be the first opportunity for a con-
setisus to be formed.

alderman and port -