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SRA OORT AIRES VAS RAE

Coquitlam council may
not be “turning a blind ,
eye” but someone isn’t
watching Jack Cewe’s
gravel pit and the amount
of muddy waste water
dumped into the Coquit-
lam River.

Port Coquitlam council,
angry that the gravel
Operation in northern
Coquitlam discharged
muddy water into the
river this month, wants an
explanation for the permit
violation.

The gravel company
discharged sediment-
laden water into the
Coquitlam -River during
the - rainy Nov. 2
weekend. .

Ald. Mike Gates told
council Monday that Co-
guitlam, which receives
royalties from the pit
operation, appears to be
“disinterested” in the
polluting spills. ;

He said he won’t go so-
far as to say Coquitlam
council is turning a blind
eye to the permit viola-
tions but that. it doesn’t
view the problem to be as
serious as Port Coquitlam
does.

Ald, Mike Farnworth

said the river has a higher ©

profile in Port Coquitlam
and is more valued here
than in Coquitlam.

But Gates said he can’t
believe charges haven't
been laid against the
company, —,

“Where did they think
the water was going —
evaporating?” he asked
council. .

According to i report
from the Environment
Ministry’s waste manage-
ment branch, the silt
settling ponds at the
gravel site were eroded
and improperly used.

Water from a final
settling pond was being
discharged too . quickly
into the river, before the
silt had settled. Ditch
waters drained directly
into the final settling
pond, instead of a pond
series.