Lr Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 24, 1991 — Page A5 JETTERS| “TO THE TERRACE STANDARD . - row Big day is tomor Mine get TERRACE — More than 60 Buests are due at the Snip mine's official opening ceremonies tomorrow in the Iskut Valley, The mine,.. which began pro- duction the’end of January, is Processing an average 342 ton- nes of ore’a:day and has’an eight-year'lifespan. At the opening will be sup: pliers and guests from the nor- _ ithwest «and «Vancouver. Also ‘scheduled ‘to: be there are senior scompany: officials from Comin. ‘co and’ Prime: Resources, part- ners in'the mine,: ut The -opening ribbon. will be ‘snipped by Ted Muraro, ‘the - Cominco geologist who found gold “at. the site, and mine manager Merlyn Royea. . “‘He’s really the discoverer of the ore body,” said Royea of Muraro who is now retired. - The: mine is the second ‘to. -Open in the past decade in the -Iskut Valley which is considered one of the richest-precious metal areas of the province, There's no road into the atea '80.all exploration and develop- ‘ment was carried out using air- ‘craft. ’ _ Last year, Cominco brought up a large hovercraft it purchas- - ed in Alaska to ferry in supplies along the Stikine and Iskut rivers from Wrangell,. Alaska, It's now also used to take out the gold concentrate from the site to Wrangell for shipment south. And even as “Opening ceremonies take place, work has started on finding more reserves to prolong the mine’s life, said Royea. oo _ “There's some grassroots work going on at a property just to the west and we've ‘started some detailed underground ex- Baris ploration but it’s far too early ‘; to tell if we have an indication,'’ he said. . “ The -mine employes. nearly 130 people working three shifts of four weeks in and two weeks out. Approximately 25 of those people. come. from northern Royea:said the opening is in itself a tribute to the mining in- dustry, ue _- That’s because the industry standard is that one mine will come about for every’ 10,000 claims which are prospected. Royea himself has been in the mining business for:27 and this is the first time he’s been involv- ed in starting a new operation. COMPLETE CAMP facilities mak nearly 130 workers at the mine. weeks aut. Recreational activities 8 Sis for a more enjoyable time by the They work four weeks in and two include 11 satellite TY channels, s ribbo n sni sped province is Cominco’s use of a x. AERIAL VIEW of Caminco’s SNIP offices in the bottom lower left co y up the Stikine and Iskut rivers to the rner. The bring in perishable foods. Workers are also large hovercraft. It ferries in fuel mine shows the bunkhouse and nearby airstrip used to flown in and out. TERRACE — Terrace Co-op has moved into its new garden centre, _ The outlet had been located in'temporary trailers but is mov- ing into a refurbished version what was the Co-op’s building supplies building at its Greig Ave. site, Those trailers have been used since a fire damaged what was | the garden centre three years ago. | ‘The building suppliés space came vacant. when. the ‘Co-op opened a separate building sup- Plies outlet:on Molitor, ' a. at. oe ~ | One of the latest local groups _ 10. receive-a GO B.C, lottery " gtant is Northern Native Broad: casting, 9 The $27,668 ‘will'go to pur- . chasing broadcasting equipment for the organization which pro- ~ Vides ‘Programming to-30 loca- tions in’the north: and centra part of the provirice; i... ' Northern Native’.Broad- casting » recently. moved | its- - studios from the second floor of QUT AND ABOUT the credit union building’ on Lazelle Ave. to new facilities at the Kitselas band’s Kulspai sub-_ _ division on Queensway; ee 2 oo ee If you've noticed that the Price of gas dropped a bit. July _ 4, you are right. A reduction in the provincial Sales, tax on-gasoline resulted in the 1.92 cents:a litte dip. "That's because fuel taxes are ‘adjusted every three months ac- cording to what the retail price Of ‘fuel is based: on the Van-. “couver Consume Price Index, _. .” Ifthe price of fuel goes up, so does the provincial tax ‘rate, If the price'of fuel goes down,-ihe tax follows suit. mehr gh hed ne + + 7 2 | *: ‘The tourism industry cracked the -$§ billion “mark. last’ year, says: the provincial tourism ministry... «A estimated at 23. million people, including 15.6 million B.C. residents, toured the pro- vince, . The number of American visitors was-up five per cent last year compared to 1989, ’. And, the total number of Overseas visitors also increased ‘by five. per cent over the same period. " Stewart “Canada Post employce is one of 34 across the ‘country .to receive an award from’ the federally-owned . business. : ~ ‘Lenore. Earl, the assistant post master in thal town, was given a Golden Postmark Award ats a. ceremony last month in: Ottawa, | “Her. efforts to-ensure that a Stewart resident received insulin shipments on time was noled in the consideration for the award, kkk hk The provincial government is providing up to $50,000 for im- provements to the Kitimat air- park and for a study of the airstrip at Telegraph Creek, . "Up te $35,000 will. be spent on a new trailer and radio phone at the Kitimat facility. - A $15,000 study. of. the Telegraph Creek airstrip will help determine what’s need 1 make improvements. kk kkhik . The Burns Lake school district has replaced thousands of 40-watt fluorescent tubes : with energy-efficient 34 watt | ones. . Replacement was done through B.C. Hydro's Power Smart campaign which - en- courages conservation of energy, ves ‘The project will save the district $28,000 a year in energy costs, It received a $70,000 rebate from B.C, Hydro, 7 The. Start -is_ for people 1 of dearning how to read. 22°)" - Pulp mill? | A company wants to build a Pulp mill. Oren- da Forest. Prodlcts will . “also make paper: ; ;. “Tt wants to. build mill near Lakelge:Lake. 180 people will get jobs,” “+ Some-people think the mill will polhite.the air, The company: says. it Hot pollufe the'air 5 the. | More room . The -dibrary wants ‘more Foom.: . The work ‘will cost $1 »« Work:could start next The ‘il rary must get . as honey, _ homes. Dear Sir: It is important that Oren- da’s application for its pro- posed Lakelse mill now pro- ceed in a manner which balances the company's twin - responsibilities — to - its Shareholders to maximize the return on their investment; and to the citizens of B.C. to behave as a good corporate citizen. Given a couple of hundred dollars, [ can go to the bank and invest it in a savings ac- count at 5,5 per cent interest, Or I can invest it in a func- tional firearm,.a balaclava and go to the same bank and make a different sort of withdrawal. Unless I’m totally inept or terminally unlucky, the return of my investment under Plan B will be con- siderably greater than Plan A. The point is we don’t do business that way. We try to comply with existing rules and codes and norms of con- duct. Sometimes we even ‘try: to conduct our affairs accor- ding to archaic principles like “do unto others as’ you would have them do unto you.” os So far in the Lakelse ap- plication procedure, the company has proven adept at representing the interests of its investors. The behind- closed doors meeting to bring Terrace city council and other local ‘‘leaders’* on-side probably cost no more than 30 pieces of silver —. an ex- cellent, if odious investment. But how is the public interest being safeguarded in this process? : Public information on the project has consisted largely of slick press releases and few hard facts, On July 18 the residents of Lakelse were invited to an open house with fe Drei SIT 6 tl zero-ef fluent mill.” As the prospectus for the pulp and paper ‘ project — the document that is supposed to lay out the nuts and bolts of the pro- posal — will not be ready for several weeks yel, there was really very little basis. for discussion. ; Orenda likes to promote the notion of a zero effluent mill, Effluent means liquid waste. Barring some acciden- tal breach of its 1.6 million gallon closed-circuit pulping system, it seems likely that the zero effluent promise of _ Said to sme this new technology can be | kept. " But on the question of - solid waste and° gaseous - wastes (emissions), Orenda is strangely silent. Presented at . the ‘Lakelsé:residents' forum ‘was-a sheet entitled mill emis- sions. It says: * No.‘‘kraft mill’ smell. ® Virtually all steam. * Insignificant contributor to acid rain. ® Very low air emissions. That’s all. No facts, no figures, just unsubstantiated Statements, The B.C. Ombudsman’s 1988 annual report cautioned that ‘‘an efficient mechanism for the independent assess- ment of environmental or social impact is needed ... A Process to be avoided is one where experts are retained to present data in a fashion which will advance only the interests of their clients.’? Which is precisely the situa- tion we face today with Orenda’s Lakelse proposal. The public deserves a thorough _ independent and open-assessment of the facts about Orenda’s proposal. ‘Consider the case of acid rain. Acid rain is measured on a scale on which lower readings indicate higher acidity. A reading of 7.0 is considered neutral. Normal rain is about 5.6. Readings of less than 5.0 signal potential damage to the environment. With no major sources of sulphur/nitrogen oxides (the chemicals which cause acid rain) nearer than Kitimat, average rainfall at Terrace already reads 4.88. Any proposed addition to ithe acid load in the Terrace- iamat corridor should be rysearefully weighed before proceeding. ; . A bland statement from Orenda that it will be “an in- Signicant contributor to acid rain” is simply insufficient evidence to base such a ma- jor decision ‘on. The public deserves a thorough independent and open assessment of the facts about Orenda’s proposal. Their proposed mill may in- deed not smell. The process “by this its project is. pro-- ceeding stinks. John How, Lakelse Lake A plea for ‘nay’ to th Dear Sir: The recent controversies surrounding the Alean Kemano Completion Project shutdown and the’ possible construction of the Orenda pulp mill, along with the potential copper smelter and Ocelot Industries expansion in Our area {Terrace/ Kitimat), has created a Serious reappraisal of our current and future en- vironmental and economic thinking and practices. There are few of us who are nol, in some way, directly or indirectly, involved in or with, some aspect of mining, forestry (logging or pulp mills) and smelting, or know of and have acquaintances with individuals who are. _,. Whether we like it or. not, e ‘no’ side weare caught in this con- troversy, for it has, and will; have a direct effect upon , ourselves and, if there is - “anything left (industry, etc.) for our children’s fulure. On the surface, I do not’ question the sincerity and concerns expressed in recent letters and editorials in the local papers and elsewhere. But I do, and others as well, question the rationale and logic of what was and is ex- presed from the seemingly. : total nay view re: the: aforementioned projecis, The irony here is that, for an example, and | quote in “part from a recent printer criticism (July 10 in The Ter: ‘race Standard) ‘get off the: cont'd A6 Houses The Kitsélas Indian band wants to build 20 | The band says: people need the homes, = The homes’ will, $ cost The hotneS.’ will be: ~~ About _ The’ Terrace Standard welcomes letters to the editor ‘on all topics. All letters must be signed ‘and carry an ad- “dress: and “local telephone ‘Number, Addresses or phorie “numbers” won't ‘be printed with the letter, bu i necessary for confirmation Of ‘the letter’s’ authenticity The: Writer thheld may be 2-million. ° built east of Terrace, t they: are. me will be’ equiests” for.” il : published soonest, letters granted in extraordinary cir, cumstances. oe Thank ‘you ‘letters should ‘ _ be submitted to the “Card of | section: of the. Thanks’ classifieds. a re - Letters containing ‘libelous or objectionable matier will «. be edited or returned to the writer. All letters are‘run on. . & space available: basis, ‘with’ shorter letters likely to be. a Pr ae ee