Page AS — Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 14,1991 _TO.THE TERRACE STANDARD Dear Sir: “Orenda is still a very hot subject around town and a lol of people feel like we do, that we do not'need another pilp mill in our area! The pressure tactics Oren-. da had put on to push its . plan through as fast as possi- ble seemed very ‘suspicious. And the walking out of two of: our aldermen as.a very concerned citizen tried to ex- press his views about the pulp mill, was very rude and - arrogant. ; We all thought we. have a free democratic system, but when the council members walked out, that reminded me of communism where the rulers make the laws and everybody else just does not Invisible gov't studies. N friter feels pulp mill : ‘not needed in the area i 1989-90 the British Columbia division sent 160 recruits to training in Regina. Thirty-four of them were women. count. -Grenda is tobbying hayd to. lry to convince. the people how super modern and clean they will be. However it does not really matter how squeaky clean it may be. The fact still remains that we are. running out of trees. fast already. Our town authorities tell us that the taxes they will col- . lect. from Orenda are a " welcoming financial gain. Well, stop and think again. That will be a short term gain and a long term loss for . everbody and then perhaps we will have to live on berries if any of those are left. * People say “this all thé © ~ time, “Oh, our children, we are very. concerned. about their future. We shail see to it that they do have a good life ahead of. them.” Does ‘anyone‘ever stop’ to "think how . concerned you really’ are? 1. have ‘seen 2 poster in own from a children’s club saying, help us save our planet. So, stop and take a look around, We are already tak- ing 4 inch trees out of the forest through clear cut loge- ing. These 4 inch trees should _ we are taking. them’ already. Many of these are smashed ’ or would be the: bread butter for your children in the woods, so where is the bread and abutter ‘for - ‘the children coming ‘from?’ Are we willing to throw ail Ty that away: for a few. extra ‘bucks.to make Orénda rich _and all of us a hell of a lot poorer? If that is anyone’s idea of preserving a good future for the children, well you better - think again, What you are thinking is “me, myself and land tohell . with the rest of it.’ Sincerely, Mrs. Ortrud Buschmann, . Terrace, B. Cc: deserve to be in the open Orenda. point man Frank Foster has done a bit of back-peddling lately regar- ding the company’s proposed - Lakelse Lake pulp and paper plant. - Orenda’s first Open House was held at the hot springs for Lakelse residents. Although advertised as “‘part of the B.C. Government’s Project Approval Process,’”’ it was in no way a government-sanctioned forum but rather a public lations manoeuvre, by .. ble from the north half af the, - Talke. : "The sightlinc map has’ , enda. The ‘announced purpose om was to discuss the mill pro- posal but there were few facts presented to discuss. . At the time, Mr. Foster made much mileage from a claim.that the mill would not be . visible from either the highway or the lake. The information kit distributed purporting to prove that contained a detail- ed sight-line map purporting to prove that assertion. According to the map, the Onion Lake flats area are blanketed with 50-foot trees - — a rare feat for a forest so young, Thase trees are about 17 years old and average 20-25 feet tall. — . Cut Mr, Foster's fantasy screen down to life-size and the mill becomes easily -visi- since disappeared from the info-kit and has been replac- ed by a map. that just shows distances. And that’s the major pro- blem with the review process. Mr. Foster, frankly, is on a selling mission. Unlike in real life where you can get a com- pelitive estimate or a second opinion, under the Major Project Review Process (MPRP), the salesman is the sole source of product infor- mation to the public. The process generates a lot of information from other sources, too, But when — in the next few weeks — the public goes into MPRP hear- | ings, the only information on the, table for public diseus- 6a Swill be Orenda’s. “~The independent analyses done by various, government ministries at taxpayers’ ex- . pense will not be made public until Victoria’s decision is published. That is a very serious shortcoming in the review ‘Smell of money comment not made by Flying Phil. Dear Sir: “We'd like to correct some errors in Rob Brown's ‘‘The — Skeena Angler’ of July 17. ; While you can accuse Mr, Gaglardi of many things, 1 assure you he never flippant- ly replies to a tourist's ques- tion about pulp mill smell. with, ‘‘that is the smell of money’’, Over the years I fiave heard that remark at- tributed to many people in. public life. It does not sur- . prise me that Mr. Gaglardi should now have his iurn. ‘Tam reminded of some perennial anecdotes one hears in life and that people will swear they know the per- son to whom it happened. Your writer's reference to the Wyerhaeuser pulp mill implies that we were on the leading edge of technology when built. We still are, Fur- ther research is still ongoing with regard to pulp mill smell and with.cemoval of pulp mill wastes from receiving ‘waters.. ~ While, we've made countless improvements at great expense since we bagan, we can’t escape the fact that pulp mill odour is -hoticeable jin minute dilu- tions of one part per billion, Reference to dioxins must be put in perspective, Firstly, there has been.no evidence of dioxins being a carcinogen in humans. Secondly, recent comment from the Centre for Disease Control in the U.S. suggests that the jury is oul as to whether there is need for alarm about diox- ins. The reason that dioxins were never any issue soecner was because there was not technology available to measure dioxins in quantities as minute as parts per trillion until’ a few years ago. This notwithstanding, our im- mediate actions taken when the scare started has seen dioxin levels drop by 95 per cent into the parts per quadrillion range. We take the issue seriously and invite your writer to visit our mill when he comes by, And we'll even have him meet Mr. Gaglardi, Yours sincerely, Weyerhaeuser Canada Ltd. Barney Lukas, Director, Public Affairs Good news and bad news for Birch Hill motorists — TERRACE — The city has good. news and bad news for residents .of the Birch Hill bench.. The bad news is it-will be next spring before it knows if the drainage problem on the top. section of the hill has been solv- ed, The goad news is all but that . top section will be paved by the end of this year. Engineering director -Stew Christensen explained the original plan called for lok- blocks to be installed two-high alofig the length of the north side‘of the road. They are the large concrete blocks used to construct retaining walls ‘at the . foot of steep slopes. . Apart from preventing any movement at the bottom of the slope, the blocks also allowed the road to be widened slightly because paving could be extend- ed right to the edge of the blacks. . However, he had recom- mended postponing fok- blocking the top section — ap- proximately 130m — until: it was known whether the drainage problem had been solved, . Christensen explained the concern was with water seeping ‘through the hillside above the "y road. In, summer}. ‘it. Stayed ‘underground batin the winter it ~ drained onto the? ‘road itself, resulting in icy: patches, “I've seer It (the. tea, come a quarter of the way ‘across the road in a single wat he” pointed out; : ot Tests . had -determined ; “the seepage was not caused. by either a broken water line or a leaking septle tanks, he added. - To. combat the: problem, *a ‘perforated: drainage pipe‘ had — # now been buried four feet below the- ‘toad. Surface ‘but ‘the: city wouldi’t. know: whether,-- that ret tion of the project. Total post’ the amended plan: was $24,000 a had worked ‘until the nd of ings from the. lok-blocking’ por- process; it gives an unfair ad- vantage to the salesman. What we need is those in- dependent reports ‘on the table, in the open, before public hearings begin. What we need to avoid, ac- cording to the provincial Ombudsman, is ‘‘a process where experts are retained to present data which will ad- vance only the interest of their client,"" John How, — Terrace, B.C. - Strive to Survive _TAKE YOUR CLASS 05 WITH US.. create “4 LICENCE CLASS'1,2.8,4,5 “AIR BRAKE COURSES. ° . “ORWER EVALUATIONS oy" DRIVER ASSESSMENTS -_ “?* HEAVY EQUIPMENT. GOVERNMENT CERTIFIED - DANGEROUS GOOD courses: “WCB, SURVIVAL FIRST AID : GLENN ILLINGWORTH, MANAGER ey JOHN E. FOX PRESIDENT PHONE 708-2228, 2 get CHERYL MALMGREN WORKS FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD AS A NEWSPAPER CARRIER AND HAS |. BEEN WITH THE COMPANY FOR 34% YEARS. WHEN °|:. CHERYL'S NOT DELIVERING PAPERS, SHE ENJOYS || VISITING WITH HER FRIENDS AND SWIMMING AT. THE PUBLIC POOL. “Call one of our professional advertising J consultants now: : Sam Collier Advertising Consultant , _ Janet Vivelros Acmerteing Consultant compared. to “the. oven oe ee “ budgeted. $36,000."