4

<o~-T-had dropped in at a friend's

“if somet

di Rocky Gray lives and
Writes in Terrace,

By J. ROCKY GRAY

“place - one day, while he -was

“working in his |.
asked me if there was anything I ©
. W288 writing about and. Ivhad.
~--mentioned that I hed “been |

thinking about the truck traffic |
ON the Sande Overpass in Ter-

yard. He had

‘YACE, .

<The person I had been talking’ ~ |
0:.is a-member of the local}
RCMP. We had talked about os

The: most noticeable portion

as loss of life in two cases. The

_ | potential for even more loss of
~ife and injury was evident in all

the accidents that had occurred

this ‘short stretch of pave.

ent,
~. (One such accident was when a

~alley way behind the mall, being

delivery’ trucks in that alley.

‘Another. ‘potentially’ hazar-
dous accident was when a load-
ed fuel truck went off the Keith

“Avenue side of the overpass.

' . Although nothing happened but

vl :

4 major delay in regular traffic,

on a. Saturday morning, the

“-potential was so great for

"disaster that the Terrace
-: Medical facilities might not have
“been able to handle the situa-
+ flon.

ae ~ If that fuel carrier had run in-

‘to another truck or car and

~<burst:into flames just a little

‘later in the day, it would have

~ sbeen. like a 737 crashing at that

‘Spot. The traffic would have

_ been much heavier, there would

-have-been people walking into
town and it would have been: ex-

tremely.-difficult for the
emérgency response vehicles to
-get to the scene because of the
tie up in traffic.

I have seen many commercial
vehicles using the overpass at
times when the regular traffic is
bumper to bumper. One of
these days there is going to bea
costly and tragic miscalculation
by one of these truck drivers.

I think the city and the pro-
vince should use some careful
thought into whether the over-
pass shouldbe used continually

these accidents was that there -

‘logging truck spilled its load on -

that there is-always people and

verpass disaster looms

ning isnt done

ONE OF the busiest portions of road in the city is the Sandé Overpass, a location that has seen serious

accidents. ;

for truck traffic. Perhaps they
haven’t seen enough accidents
tO warrant an enforced use of
Keith Ave. for truck and tanker
traffic. ;
Pve seen a lady killed on the
overpass because of a driver try-
ing to negotiate a corner, and
spilling his load all over the

something was done about this,
before something happens that
No one in our city council is will-
ing to live with or beable to
sleep at nights due to the
possibility of loss of life because
of their inability to control such.

' usage.

I realize there are a lot of

-2!4f that fuel: carrier had
Car and burst into flames,

run into anothér.truck or
it would have been like a

737 crashing at that spot.”

Keith side of the overpass.

The RCMP have their hands
tied as far as this matter is
cocerned because the
municipality has no laws Stating
the overpass is not to be used
for truck passage or as far as
that goes, any commercial
vehicles used for hauling equip-
ment, logs, or pulp chips.

I think it is about time that

truck drivers out there that will
not agree with these thoughts.
But when it is your truck loaded
that spills it's load on a car with
a family in it, maybe taking the
Keith Avenue route wouldn't
have been such a bad idea after
all. The possibility of this hap-
pening has become so great that
it is just a matter of time.

1 hope this doesn't happen

J. Rocky Gray

but the consequences are in-
evitable, and the degree of
destruction is going to be a mat-
ter of timing. 1 am truly con-
cerned and I hope others are as
well,

Rock course aids those |

"By JOHN YOUNG
_ The Interior News
__ Those rich, fabled gold mines
don’t just leap out of the ground
and offer their wealth --. the
deposits that can lead to a mine

are only tumed upafier long sear-

ching and detective work,

On. the front line in the search
for; minerals, the prospector
‘Foams. the. hills.and backcountry,
chipping here, studying there,
looking for clues in the rock.

Helping prospectors better un-
derstand how minerals form and
‘where to find them, the mines
‘ministry and the. Smithers Ex-
ploration. Group: recently offered
a seven-day course.-- the first of

. its kind in the province,

Called Petrology for Pros-
‘Pectors; the course combines ge-
ology .and prospecting to give
those:in the field a better idea of
what to look for in rock systems.

_’ And. throughia beter under-

~ the chances of turning up a valu--
* able mineral deposit increase. .
~ Mines ,-aren’t - just found.

Meee Ae Rh cu,

standing of rocks (petra in Greek)

They're very subtle things,'’ ex-
_ Plained instructor Tom Richards,
RHO!

fe? finding most of the properties
t-fesnlt in inines,"” said

- ‘specializing in-tegional geology,

"; “Most properties found do. not

- jbebome mined, but if there Bre no
iMEW Properties there are no. how

spectors are. responsible:

}Rithards; who holds.a doctorate

- SeURiGhatds, helped out by distiice
aie, at Dave ‘Lefebure, taught

ROCKHOUNDS ON THE SCENT, Rai
amine mineral samples at fast weeks Patrology for Prospectars course.

_Searching for minerals

y Coumoyer and Brian Dahl, both from the Hazelton area ex-

the prospectors about clues to
look for in rocks; the chemistry
and properties that give signs of
potential ore bodies, = -
For local prospector Peter
Bland, the course offered a

chance to hone. skills. acquired -

after 40 years in the trade, -

“*Prospecting’s not the same as

it used to be,” sald Bland, who - -
“has sought minerals in BC'and
the Yukon and plans to set out:
again “fora. new: season” next,

os

"Now: it’s not 80, easy to find’:
things anymore, You have to leak

for altered rock. You've gol
look for clues,”
Kamloops prospector Paul
Watt, alsa’ taking the course,
. learned to relate rocks 10 larger
pipe ‘Popping up in different

feet wet in the trade by taking an
introductory prospecting course
and then expand on their knowl-
edge at an-advanced three-week
course in Cowichan on Van-
couver

Kaaren Soby, a Telkwa pros-
pecior said she got into the trade
about three years ago because she
liked working ourdoors,
“Its ; Stimulating, adventurous
kind of work,"* she said.

_. “What's neat about prospecting
ig that -you get into unlogged

areas. You go to the alpine. I find

it a rare privilege to be working

a

In‘this area.tt*

Tomace Standard, Wednesday, April 25, 1990 — Page AS

- TO.THE TERRACE STANDARD

Day of mourning
Ineeded April 28

~ Dear Sir:

_. The Xitimat-Terrace and
District Labour Council, in
conjunction with the Cana. -
dian Labour Congress, :is
urging all Canadians to for-
mally recognize April 28 as
the National Day of Mourn-
ing.

This day was selected as it
was on this date in 1914-in
Ontario that the first
wdikers’ compensation
legislation was enacted. in
Canada, oe

April 28 has been declared ;
by the Canadian Labour

Congress as the day to for-

mally recognize the nearly
one thousand Canadian
workplace deaths each year
and the additional one
million workers who have
been injured or disabled.
Deaths from workplace
disease go largely unrecorded
and uncompensated: it is
likely that they far exceed
deaths from physical injury,
' In our own area, logging is

1 one of the most deadly
-| trades; indeed it is the most
- dangerous occupation in

Canada,

In B.C. alone, logging has
accounted for more than 150
deaths since 1984, with SL in
1988 and 26 up to November,

Income

not very rosy

An open letter to:
Blaine Gaffney,

News Director, CFTK
Dear Mr Gaffney:

When you mention a
physician’s salary on your
fadio station I wish you
would give the complete pic-
ture. This is not a personal

net income you are speaking * sity. edisca-
- tion, at which time they are

of, but rather a gross in-

come, out of which must be

paid not only his or her

salary, but also his nurse’s

yearly salary, office rent, of-

fice equipment costs, as well

as payment for salaries of his

manager, receptionist, file
clerk, and multiple

assistants’ salaries,

Other things which must
be paid out of this gross in-
come include insurance, sup-
plies, registration fees, and
association dues. The net
take home pay ends up being
approximately one quarter of
the amount billed to the
Medical Services Plan.

. TI would also like to men-
tion that Dr, Pieter van Herk
works over 100 hours a week.
He puts in a 32-hour shift
when covering the emergency
toom which occurs approx-
imately once every six days.
A good part of his practice is
obstetrics which keeps him
up many nights a week, I do
not work nearly as hard as he
does with only an approx-
imately 72 hour wark week. I
find this exhausting.

I would not trade the
salary that Dr, van Herk gets
for mine if I had to put in the
hours that he does. He fully

Turning green

Dear Sir:

The Weebers have gone
green. Saturation exposure
to CBC programming has
convinced us to recycle, Now
that is not easy in New
Hazelton. So far we have
been unable -to arouse
anyone’s interest in our. gar-
bage, no matter how well we
sort or package it,

The obvious answer
therefore ‘was to- use

‘inspections of unorganized

Deaths from workplace

1989, this has been caused in
part by relaxation of safety
regulations due to a lack of

Operations and also because
of too much pressure on
workers to produce more in.
order to make a living, ;

Two recent fatal accidents
concerning area miners, the
first in an on site explosion
and the other in.a helicopter
crash. coming from the
Johnny Mountain mine,

disease go largely
unrecorded and un-
compensated; it is likely
that they far exceed
deaths from physical in-

jury.

highlight another part of the
workforce where bettér
health and safety standards
need to be practiced.

Please join with us as we
rededicate ourselves to the
goal of making Canada's
workplaces safer,

Yours truly,
Wilma Costain,
President,
Kitimat-Terrace
and District
Labour Council, .

picture

deserves the money he makes
and I think we should be
thankful that he is willing to
put in these hours and give
the high quality of care
which he does to out com
munity.

I woul! also like to add
that a physician undertakes a
‘seven-year university. edica-

not receiving any salary.‘The
responsibility, and stress in-
volved in the types of deci-
sion making that must occur
many, Many times during the
physician’s day are difficult

The net take home
pay of a doctor ends up
being approximately
one quarter of the
amount billed to the
Medical Services Plan,

to attach to a dollar value,

All of these things should
be considered when discuss-
ing a person’s income,

It appears that when these
things are considered that
there are many people in our
society and our communtiy
who do not have the same
degree of responsibility and
stress and yet are making far
more per hour in take home
pay, not to mention medical
plans, dental plans, pension
plans, etc. for which we must
provide for ourselves,

Yours truly,

Teresa Nicholl,
M.D,

Terrace, B.C.

everything at least twice.
Luckily our cat will eat most
table scraps, which saves us
‘some less than epicurian
recycled meals, But our big-
gest headache is paper. Being
prodigious readers, especial-
ly of newspapers such as this
one, they do pile up:
Apparently in. the big cities
they will come and take them

cont'd A6

The Terrace’ Standard
welcomes letters to the editor
on all topics, All letters must
be signed and ‘catry an ad-
dress arid ‘local telephone
number, Addresses or phone
numbers won't be printed
with the letter, but they are
necessary for: confirmation
of. the letter's - authenticity
Thé - writer's. “name: will’ be
published. “Requests for

granted in extraordinary cir-
cumstances. :

Thank you letters should
be submitted to the ‘Card of
Thanks’ section. of the
. Classifieds.

Letters containitig libelous
or objectionable matter will
be-edited or returned to the
writer, All letters are man on
a space available basis, with
shorter letters likely to be
published soonest. > |

names to be withheld may be