rene ne, ‘TERRACE — It may be no consolation ito Halliwell Ave. residents trying to stem ithe lide in their basements, but they’re inot the only northwesterners facing such ‘flooding this year, says an Environment ministry official. + Confirming similar problems are being ‘experienced across the region, water management technician Len Barak also pointed out the circumstances in many of cases were identical to those found on Halliwell, _ Barak said there had been a lot of basement flooding of homes located on a bench of land, close.to a deep ravine and 30-50ft. above the normal battomland drainage level. ' Halliwell fit that profile with Spring Creek being the ravine and Dutch Valley the bottomland. As for what’s causing the problem, Barak said the main culprit was unques- tionably the two consecutive months — November and December — of record rainfall experienced here. Why it’s happening up on a high point of land is attributable to sub-surface con-’ ditions. Although a deep layer of sand_ covers the bench, ‘‘There’s no doubt in my mind there’s a seam of clay, an im- pervious layer, under that sand,” he said, Although it would take an in-depth. study to.determine the full soi! profile on the bench, Barak speculated that clay: - layer acts rather like a bowl, Rainwater always collects in that bowl but normally the amount is not enough to bring the water table near the surface. For example, one Halliwell resident had recalled water was not a problem when he had excavated for his basement’ in 1978, well remembered as the year of the big flocd. However,. Barak pointed, conditions -that year were not comparable to ‘this season. The flood of 1978 had been eg flash event’? with a lot of rain: falling over a short period. ; ‘ In-contrast, this fall and winter had seen a long period of steady rainfall and the - highest precipitation ever recorded _over that period, ‘The region has not ex- perienced “anything like this”, ’ he em=" phasized, As.a result, the ground had beconie super-saturated, filling the clay bow! and . raising the water table to within just a -caused by: ; “upgrade project ‘could be the root of the - problem, Barak said only a study could ~ determine whether development had con- tributed to or caused it, Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 22, 1992 — Page A5 Halliwell residents not alone foot of the surface. However, because this -kind. of flooding had never happened: before, long-term residents” were “looking for other reasons to explain why they’re suf- fering. The tendency ‘is to look for so- meone to blame,” he:added. ‘Although Halliwell homeowners had suggested. changes to drainage. patterns the west- Halliwell road --Asfor solving the problem, he said im- proved ditching along Halliwell might of- fer short-term — and expensive — relief but alonger term solution would have to await a consullant’s report. LETTERS TO THE TERRACE STANDARD It’s. up to the city to solve problem , TERRACE '— While ready to ; help in any way he can, Skeena ;MLA Helmut Giesbrecht says . the Hallivel! flooding is a city : problem, « Giesbrecht was responding to 1a Jan. 14 letter from mayor ‘Jack Talstra to’ Environment : minister John Cashore and At- : torney General Colin Gabelman i — the Provincial Emergency + Program falls in the latter’s jurisdiction, In that letter, Talstra noted 17 homes were suffering severe flooding ‘‘to such an extent that foundations are giving way...and basement floors have cracked and heaved.” Pointing out septic tanks and disposal fields in the area were no longer functioning, he add- ed, ‘evidence of raw sewage is predominant in the area,’* This posed a health hazard ' par- ticularly since some nearby homes relied on well water. Talstra asked a qualified En- vironment ministry staff member carry out an assessment of soil conditions in the area ,and recommend ‘‘a method of obtaining immediate relief”. Arguing the flooding was ‘‘a natural disaster with impending health hazard and severe loss of property value”, he also, asked the “pouialay” EWiereH eek grim" to’ editipensate THE. fected homeowners and provide money to the city for carrying :Oul whatever work was necessary. : Having received a copy of Helmut Giesbrecht that letter, Giesbrecht said he had contacted officials in both ministeries to find out what the province could do, . However, the answers he had received indicated ‘‘it is a city responsibility, everyone I phone clearly says that.” Giesbrecht said En- vironmentministry was prepared to give some advice, the but had made it clear it would . not put itself in the position of being legally liable. That meant any specific recommendations for dealing wy he’ sa ba would'have to ahind epetdenOton- cant Hitedl by ine Geyer In the meantime, he was try- ing to find out if there was any way the provincial government could help out the homeowners suffering from the flooding. Is new road the problem? TERRACE — They don't know for certain whether it’s the cause of the problem, but some flooded residents are eyeing the upgraded section of Halliwell Ave. with suspicion. Olivo Tessaro points out the water table in the area had never come to level of his basement * floor. before the west section of Halliwell Ave. was upgraded in 1988, That upgrade saw a complete rebuild of the roadway. It also involyed raising the level of Halliwell by three to four feet. To illustrate the difference in the height of the road, Tessaro recalls his driveway used to ‘slope down to the street.. Now it ‘climbs to it, ’ . The year after the road pro- ject- was completed, he had water in his basement. And now it’s happening again but only worse. There are other factors which lead him to believe the road might be the culprit. As you go east ‘on Halliwell, -he points out, the flooding pro- eblem gets less and then disap- pears completely, That suggests a damming effect at his end of the street. He wonders whether the extra weight of the new road is com- pacting the soil/sand beneath it making it more difficult for the sub-surface water to drain away to the north, (Tessaro’s house is on the south side of the street} Neighbour Jerome Auriat agrees the road question bears looking into. He lives on the north side of Halliwell and two lots east of Tessaro. He paints out the water table on his pro- perty is eight feet below the sur- face. On Tessaro’s it’s only, 18 inches down. Auriat -says thai suggests there may be a natural drainage pattern north towards Spring Creek. But for residents on the south side of Halliwell, the road is between them and the creek. Both say an expert has to be brought in to determine exactly what the problem and the solu- tions are. And if it transpires the road is the problem, Auriat says the city should be responsi- ble for repairs to the homes. bk Re A, athena SLIP, SLIDIN’ AWAY. Another casualty of the monsoon season was the pedestrian path up Lanfear Hill. Asphalt curbing washed away allowing runoff water to spill onto and wash out sections of the pathway. The city reacted by sandbagging the missing sections of curb (above) and posting signs advising the hill was closed to those on foot (inset). Cemetery operable TERRACE — The current high water table on the west end of the Bench is effecting the cemetary as well, but the parks and recreation director says conditions are not interfering with burials, Steve Scott said the low lying areas Of the the cemetary were the worst effected, particularly its most northerly point near Kalum Lake Drive. However, he added, ‘‘That’s quite a ways from where our most active burials take place.” Noting a burial had taken place last Friday, he pointed out there had been no problem with water on that occasion, However, that grave had been placed at what was probably the highest point of the cemetary. He recalled there had been a problem with water at the bot- tom of a grave dug in December. Scott said long-time city employces described the present conditions as ‘"exceptional, but not totally unique’’. Fhere had been a high water table beforc, he explained, but they could not recall it having ever been this high, Steve Scott P| Na ee a ‘The Start is for people earning. how to reed, The police want this man. They want him for murder. The murder took place up north in 1988. The man killed was an American. He was from Alaska. The man's car was Wanted found in Prince George. His body was found near Stewart. The story was on TV last week, It was on a show called ‘Unsolved Mysteries’’, Police hope this will help. They have 400 new tips, Busy bank The food bank was busy last week. It gave out 384 bags to 249 people. That is a very high number say the people who work at the food bank, They think the number could be higher next month, Welfare tale exposed Dear Sir: I've been getting a lot of | bad vibes from the business community since the provin- cial election and the win by the NDP. They seem to have the j im- pression that there has been a slampede to the welfare of- fice by people to collect hun- dreds of déllars that hitherto were unavailable to them: I think it is time to shatter | an old Social Credit myth in B.C. From 1972-75, ‘during the Barrett NDP . government, there was a $10 increase for. } persons on GAIN ($20 for GAIN for . handicapped). There was a $10 increase in the spring; for the handicap- ped there was a §5 increase in. the summer and another $5 increase in the fall. And that was all. The so-called ‘welfare overrun” by the NDP at that time was a total fabrication by hysterical: Socreds ‘to be accepted by gullible voters. During the {5 years the. Socreds were in office there was a 50 per cent increase in welfare rates from: the 1975 figure set by.the: NDP government, -. . Since the poverty line i is set at about $14,000 per: year’ and since the annual welfare rate is set at below $6,000 it stands to reason that any in- crease the NDP might plan over its term as government will hardly amount to a pea under .the mattress — you know that myth about the wealthy prince: who’ was ir- titated by the idea that so- meone had put a pea under his mattress and he com- plained it was so lumpy he couldn’t get to sleep at night. T Hed iidse RAVE Beeh BEeotred ~The: original videa! of welfare was to keep the unemployed spending money so that local business would not have to go bankrupt, as ihey have had to do in the past few years, because no one has any money to con- sume the products sold by these retailers. , Call me fed up with all these right-wing/left-wing bullfeathers. 7 Brian Gregg Terrace, B.C, more letters © Page A6 About letters The Terrace Standard welcomes letters to the editor on all topics. Alt letters must. be signed and carry an ad- dress and 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 The writer's name will be published. Requests for names to be withheld may be: granted in extraordinary cir- cumstances, . _ Thank you letters ‘should be submitted to the ‘'Card of Thanks’ section of the. classifieds. - Letters containing libelous , or objectionable matter will be edited or returned to the writer, All letters are run on: a space available basis, with | shorter letters likely to be. published soonest.