Media woman : Standard Radio car racer “* Brooklyn Neys wasn’t about to roll over. Kindermusik New music program will allow young ones go move to their own beat. Tellus — | Federal NDP leader pays visit to picketers during $1.00 PLUS 7¢ GST his Terrace stop last week \NEWS As \COMMUNITY B1 ' ($1.10 plus 8¢ GST outside of the Terrace area) VOL. us NO. 20° "By DUSTIN QUEZADA WARMER OCEAN | temperatures are being blamed for low returning rates this year for sockeye in the Skeena River. : ‘The northeast Pacific Ocean has seen increased temperatures. since the win- . .. ter of 2003 and that could be affecting ' the species in a couple of ways, says an oceanographer with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). “It’s not for sure, but it could be a case - ocean t temperatures would indicate there “and the fish not having enough food to survive,” says Mike Foreman, a research scientist ' ‘based. near Victoria. : “Warmer aren’t as many nutrients available for the salmon.” Foreman explains that warmer marine conditions affect the entire food chain from the deep ocean, where less phyto- plankton would be ‘Produced, on up to the surface. And the surface is where salmon are www. terracestandard.com found in the ocean, typically i in the top 10 ' to 15 metres. This. year’s returning sockeye have ~ spent their. entire lifetimes under. these higher than normal ocean temperatures, ‘the oceanographer says, and because of that they may have sought cooler waters. ' Foreman says: salmon are less com- - fortable. with higher temperatures and those off the northwest coast may have’ travelled up to the Bering Sea, leaving them a farther return to their spawning Narm water cuts sockeye run season sockeye’ estimate for the Skeena.. " was pegged at 1.5 million, with actual - numbers now estimated at under half that, grounds. _ , Ocean temperature monitors. have found that the North Pacific and the Gulf, of Alaska have been 3-5 C higher. than. normal for the last two and a half years. _-Foreman says it’s too early to tell whether global warming is to blame. “In 2002, temperatures were cooler than normal, so we'll have to wait a few years,” Foreman says. . Whatever the reason, the impact on numbers has been great. The DFO’s pre- Wednesdey August 24, 2005 | “= 610,000... * Higher ri river r temperatuires ¢ can: also af- fect salmon survival rates, adds Foreman. ‘ With little or nothing to eat once ‘they re- .. turn to rivers; ‘the fish have’ fixed « energy rates, leading to sped up metabolical rates and susceptibility to disease, he says." “(Often) they’re unable to make it to their spawning grounds,” Foreman adds. of survival in the marine environment _ | Fair: riders’ SUMMER Georgelin, left, riding Tidy and Amanda Stella on Cooley a are set to enter the Skeena Valley Fall Fair horse show. The pair was - entered in the beginner rider class. Georgelin placed third, while Stella took fourth spot. The Saturday, Aug. 20 competition was one of _ several during the weekend at the Thornhill Community Grounds as part of the annual fair. Asphalt plant: | bothers its - neighbours — By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN AND DUSTIN‘'QUEZADA ‘NEIGHBOURS) OF an asphalt plant located on the “west Lo --end of Terrace say they are experiencing symptoms such as - itchy. eyes, burning skin and headaches When the Plant i is operating. ‘Yvonne and Gerry Danroth own the Wild Duck RV Park and Motel located at the base of.a small hill on which js lo-. Sea cated the asphalt plant owned by Standard Paving. MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO Mine banking on hydro power A COMPANY WITH a potential copper-gold mine north of here says it needs hydro power a at ‘the site to make the project viable. “It's the only activity not under our direct con- trol. Everything else is and we’re well advanced on it,” said lan Smith from bcMetals Corporation * about the Red Chris project. The Project has completed a 180- day environ- mental review and the provincial government will make a decision on granting approval on or before 7 Sept. 9. It'll also be up to the provincial government - to not only approve construction of a power line reaching north of where hydro power stops now at Meziadin Junction but to find a way to finance it. “We have strong support for the line from peo- ‘ple and from local governments,” said Smith. The line is viewed«as an industrial develop- ment incentive for communities and other projects . — ‘in the region aside from the Red Chris property, which is south of Iskut. Smith said it is not financially feasible nor pos- sible for the mine to provide its own power on site ‘using diesel or other means. “B.C.’s hydro power is one of the lowest cost producers in the world. When you think of what oil costs "today and the prospect of getting it to Red Chris, the logistics would be a nightmare,” he added. The company estimates it will employ an aver- age 250 people a year over a projected 17-year operating life. They’ll work on a traditional two week in, two week out shift schedule. Employees will be. bused to the property over a 23-kilometre private road reaching from Hwy37 just north of Tatogga Lake to the mine site. “Tt won’t be'a public road for safety reasons. . It'll be gated and secure but we will permit First Nations access to. traditional . territory,” said Smith... to Hwy37 and then to Stewart for shipment to - smelters. Smith said beMetals i iS still working ‘on agree-_ ments with smelting companies to take the con- Blockade threatens work, SHELL CANADA could have to scrap its 2005 work plan to explore the potential for natural: coalbed methane extraction in the Klappan area ‘northeast of here if an internal Tahltan dispute over the scope and pace of industrial development | - continues. Company official Jeff Mann said no deadline - date has been set but he did note that the weather will soon turn. The. company, along with ‘Ontario-based For- " tune Minerals that has anthracite coal deposits in the Klappan, has had road access blocked since mid-July. So far Sheil has undertaken environmental and archaeological work in the area but needs to re- turn to visit three test wells it drilled last year and to scope out additional drilling site possibilities. “We need this data to evaluate the potential for natural gas to be produced in the Klappan area _ and to learn more about the relationship between coalbed methane activity and the environment,” said Mann. Shell spent $4 million on its 2004 program and has a budget of about the same this year, he added. Shell is the first energy company to take up a ' provincial government initiative to look for coal- bed methane natural gas in what geologists call Ore concentrate will be taken out on the road’ centrate, . The company has signed a Memorandum of | Understanding with the Tahitan in the area to pro- vide benefits and employment. Part of that is offering an opportunity for the Tahltan to buy up to 30 per cent of the mine's: operations. Based on receiving environmental approval, - ‘beMetals can then seek financing for construc- . tion. “That will give us access to the capital mar-— ‘kets, ” said Smith of approval. “Red Chris is the newest mine and we’re ready to go.” | _ Based on an expected environmental approval followed by securing financing, the mine could be ready to open in several years. - That’s about when an existing mine in the area, the Eskay Creek gold mine, is scheduled to close, freeing up an experienced workforce, said Smith. He said he anticipates needing up to 500 people ‘during the mine construction phase and a capital budget of $228 million. — says Shell | the Bowser Basin, the region stretching north of ‘here toward the Yukon border. Coalbed methane is natural gas found next to coal deposits and while there is the potential for extraction, much work is needed before any deci- sions are reached. Shell’s problems in the area began earlier this year when a group of Tahltan, who claim the Klappan as their traditional territory, and others asked the company to leave the area. The same group, which is at odds with elected Tahltan officials, followed that up with the July blockade. ’ CONT'D PAGE A2 ‘says. They say they’re concerned for their-health and that of their guests due to what they say is poor air quality stem- ming from the effluent release by the neighbouring plant. “It is a travesty because unfortunately, the way the air flow goes here, it brings all the smoke down here into our RV park and motel so we’ re just getting absolutely choked,” * says Yvonne Danroth.. The smoke coming from the plant is so thick, she says at times it is difficult to even see the end of her property from ~ mM the. front., _“The worst of the worst part is the hot oil, it literally burns . your eyes, it makes your throat sore and your skin itch,”’ she says. “We've never had these symptoms.in our life. We’ ve only had them since the plant started up full bore.” The Danroths say they’re worried if the plant continues to ; 7 operate at that location that it will drive tourists. away.-: As an example, Danroth says she’s already lost one long- term customer that would stay four fo five months at a time at $750 per month. °' Guests at the ‘park say they. too have experienced some similar symptoms. > Michael Cheney is a long-term guest at the park and says the mornings when the Plant first fires up ‘are the most trou- blesome. « “When it comes on — particularly. in the morning [the , air quality] is bad enough to wake you up,” says Cheney. “There’s enough particulate matter to bother your eyes, nose - = and throat — it’s a sort of burning feeling, it’s not pleasant.” He also believes the plant should move to a location that is not frequented by tourists. “I think it could be greatly improved or moved. There’ 's lots of solutions for this if the will-is there to move,” he But other. neighbours, who live even closer to ‘the plant, say it is not causing them any sort of inconvenience. Eleanor O’Boyle and her husband have lived at 3321 Griffith St:, which borders the aggregate pit the asphalt plant sits on, since 1968. She lived there when a previous asphalt. ~~ plant operated there more than 20 years ago and says neither. - that plant nor this one have given her cause for concern. | “We have no problem,” O’ Boyle says. “We live ina light | industrial area where we expect that.” She’ says she has not suffered from ‘any of the symp- toms Danroth and others have experienced and is no more disturbed by the ‘noise “from the plant than the helicopters frequently flying overhead or the sound of trains rumbling down the tracks at the foot of her street. A group of area businesspeople and home owners “sub- mitted a petition to Terrace city council May 12 asking it to reconsider zoning which permits the asphalt plant-to be there. _ CONT'D PAGE At2 MICHAEL CHENEY, who uses the Wild Duck park for his RV, is also not happy with a nearby asphalt plant. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO