2 dy iy Laake A group opposed to the Nisga'a land claim says it will cost $4 billion\NEWS AQ iennories Cal band students are in the Studio next week recording their first CD\COMMUNITY B41 Powerful perforraer WEDNESDAY MAY 29, 1996 STA Bretton Overton is becoming a force on the national gymnastics scene\SPORTS B6 NDARD Flood danger easing THE WEATHER is cooperating, but environ- ment ministry officials warn the risk of flooding has not gone away. The snowpack in the mountains is still 30 per cent above normal levels. Robin McNeii, at the Provincial River Forecast Centre, says-there’s still. a serious danger that a hot spell could melt-the snow all at once and result in flooding, ~ - “There's still a lot-of snow: sitting- up there,” McNeil said Tuesday moming. “Given a pro- longed warm spell it could all come pouring off fairly quickly.” ; ; : ‘Temperatures into the mid-20s for several days in a row would trigger a big mell-off, he said. So far that hasn’t happened; but ironically the longer the weather stays cool, the greater the danger ofa sudden melt, more likely that is to happen,” he said. “It’s a rite-of-melt problem - not a total melt problem.” McNeil says the best thing for flood-prone homeowners would be for average temperatures and dry weather, , ; Spring is running three to four weeks behind schedule all over the province, McNeil added. ‘Normally, he’ said, the April'to May period “gets a‘few days of above ‘average temperatures: that helps mett off quite-a lot of snow. Temperatures so. far have sometimes hit nor- mal levels, but have . generally stayed ‘below normal, - “There’s nothing in the. forecast at the moment to-cause any alarm and say the flood’s on its way,” McNeil suid. | - , ‘The Skeena River so Far is only somewhat Monday’s measurements put tlow at 3,000 cubic metres per second - up from the 2,500 cubic metre per second norm, The Skeena’s water volume usually peaks sometime in June at a raté of around 5,000 cubic inetres per second, Regional highways. manager Jon Buckle said there’s no reason to get alarmed yet, , “We're within the normal range of where the | Skeena “should be,” Buckle said. “It’s just that there’s a bit thant usual fo come down.” The Skeena’s large size means it takes longer to get to flood stage than smaller sueams if a quick meil begins. “We normally see locul ‘streams peak before the Skeena,” Buckle said, . That means any flooding of the Kalum or Copper Rivets usually hits homeowners around Dutch Valley and Copperside Estates before the 93¢ PLUS 76. GST VOL. 9 NO. 7~ . t ] } Special issue!! WHO WON. WHO LOST, Interviews with the local candidates, There’s all that and more in a four-page provincial election special issue being delivered to your door today along with The Terrace Standard, Last night's election results came too late for our Teg- ular news deadlines. Normally that meant we wouldn't have been able to tell our readers what happened until next week. So we needed a plan to inform our readers of what happencd last night. And that plan resulted in the four- page special issue. Our news staff gathered Tuesday afternoon for a strategy session and worked late into the night to write stories based on the fast breaking events. Our production manager, Ed Credgeur, was a key player in bringing all the material together. The finished pages were driven to Kitimat early this morning so it could be printed at our sister paper, The Northern Sentinel, Ut was then brought back in time to be included with the bundles going out to our carriers. above normal flows for this time of. yeur, he “The longer this coal weather goes on, the added. - : ; Skeena. a Smoothing things over IN BETWEEN POTHOLE paving and road construction, it's difficult to get anywhere quickly in Terrace these days. Traific jams backed up to the bridges have people wondering if they're actually in the lower mainland, But the smoother drive should be worth it. Above are Melvin Feener and Dennis Pearce, who've been busy this spring filling potholes, Thank you to the advertisers who supported the issue. Toxins flow under homes - By JEFF NAGEL CONTAMINATED GROUND water coming from an old pole treatment plant on Keith Ave. is flowing underneath homes far to the southeast, A inap of groundwater contamination pre- pared by cansultants suggests’ pollution now extends sauth as-faras. Hauglind Ave. and east in the direction of Evergreen St. and the Skeena Kalum housing complex. Although some. residential -properties’ are clearly in the area “atfected, environment ministry officials won't say’ whethér they | plan to make individual homeowners there join the environmental assessment and-clea- nup to be carried out by CN Rail and Keith Ave. businesses, 7 “Anything’s possible based on the ‘risk assessment,” said B.C, Environment waste management officer Alex Grant. “If the con- tamination is on their property, they could:-be required to become involved." CN Rail bought the old MacGillis and Gibbs pole yard in 1984, and soon after broke up the property and sold it off, Grant said the decisian to include home- owners depends on the severily of the ground waler contamination in-the residential aren, and if ground water feeds existing wells: there, — “It's possible the contaminants could total- ly degrade and other properly owners don’t huve to be involved,”-he said. “Or if there’s an impact that’s occurring or at risk of vccur- Ting then we'll require some uction ta pick it up. The map indicates sume properties on Hall St. and the east side of South Sparks St. could be affected, Mo So fur testing in the residential area south of the highway is being dune.at CN’s expense, Grant said. oo Several businesses on the north side of Keith Ave. have been direcied to jain“the: work already being carried out by CN Rail to address contamination «from ‘the: old MacGillis and Gibbs site, Business owners fear the cost of testing and cleanup. could be millions of dollars, The most seriously” affected. are Coast Tractor, Copperside Foods, atl Norm’s Auto Refinishing on the north side of Keith Ave., and B.C, Automotive across the highway. The report, prepared for CN Rail by Morrow Environmental Consultants, says wood preservative oil from the MacGillis and Gibbs property dip tanks conlaminated soil araund the tanks and then spread in the water (able south of CN’s property line, The consultants believe the oil stopped before it reached Keith Ave. But although the oi] may have stopped, it’s believed chemicals from:the oil are still dis- solving into the groundwater, resulting in a plume: of, contaminated. groundwater that is spreading south of Keith Ave, ; -Ar-abandaned channel of the Skeena River between Keith Ave, and Haualand is the con- -duil for the-dissolved pentachlorophenol, a chemical that could kill fish if it reached the Skeena River. Be, Groundwater flaws eastward in the chan- nel, the report says, : 8 . The deep plume of contaminated ground- ‘waler = at least 10 metres underground - extends much farther than any of thé contam- ination near the surface. Tests su far supgest the: plume runs south fram Keith Ave, through’ B.C, Automotive. then veers southeast on the north side of Haugland, More tests are planned to determine exact- ly how far the plume extends und to deter- mine how serious the contamination is along it, - - : a * Consultants believe the contaminants break down relatively quickly, so the concentration of pentachlorophenal in the plume gets wenker the preater the distance from the original site. : Measurements -far' to the south, near Haugland Ave; are low in-the range of 5 parts-per. billion = but are still ten times greater than the acceptable standard for dis- charge-of pentachlorophenol to the river. Readings are more than 1,000 parts per bil- - Hon-in-a narrow strip-from-the original site across’ Keith’ Ave. and ‘at: least’ 70 metres south-on the west side of Hall St. The report says those high concentrations could extend further southahd east. "A tine of three wells are to be placed along - Evergreen Stjust north of Haugland: If sig- nificant contamination is. detected there, those wells may be used.to pump oul some uf the contiminated ground water, says Grant, He said CN and the businesses uffected are to file their draft remediation plan-by this Friday, ce The plan is expecied ta include the removal of the old tanks and the surrounding contam- inated soil. , ; . Economy credited for low jobless rate A BOOMING northwest economy has driven unemployment rates bere to their lowest levels ever. The unemployment rale for the north- western region dipped to 5.7 per cent in April — down from 10.8 per cent a yoar ago. tes the lowest unemployment rate of any region in B.C. — lower than metro Vancouver's 7.2 per cent, lower than the B.C, provincial average of 8.5 per cent, and much lower than the national aver- age of 9.8 per cent. “It shook me when I saw it,’? federal labour market analyst James Gilham said of the slats. But he noted the trend has been steadi- ly downward for the pas! 12 months. And he said it cannot be explained away to seasonal work like forestry or tourism, because the unemployment zate is down a full five per cent from the same month in 1995, Gillam says a partial explanation is that the number of people in the work- force or looking for work is down. The “‘participation rate’’ is normally around 73 per cent, but has dipped to 69.2 per ceat, Gilham said. That sometimes happens in severely recessed areas and can be a signal that unemployed people have given up on ever finding work. “Normally speaking, lhat would be a grievous. situation, but in this case it isn’t,”? Gilham says. His theory is that more and more people are living in the northwest for the quality of life — not simply because they have a job here. They include retirees, peaple with moncy and stay-at-home spouses in families that can survive on just one in- come. , **In the past if you weren’l working here you got the hell out, That may no longer be trie,’’ Gilham says. ‘You can live here without wanting to work here because it’s a nice place to be.” ‘Tncreasingly there’s a belief that this is a good place to be.” Northwesterners are also aging and more of them are deciding to stay here for their retirement. ‘We have a maturing of our com- munity," he said. City of Terrace economic development officer Ken Veldman pointed to sig- nificant business expansion here over the last couple of years, “Weve had good job growth,” Veld- man said. “The traditionals are holding sieady. It’s the small business sector that’s really growing.”