KEITHFREEMAN sts -SKEENA ANG ROB BROWN Oil woes part four ast winter the tanker, Erik was wrenched apart in heavy seas off the coast of France spilling 10 million ites of its crude, poisonous cargo into the Atlantic. The viclent storms battering the French coastline at the time took over and whipped the foul spillage into a full blown ecological disaster that left its black impact on over 350 kilo- metres of rich marine environment. On June 20 of this year the rough seas between Robben and Dassen Islands off the coast of South Africa swallowed the oil tanker Apollo Sea drowning all hands and releasing all or a part of the 2,500 tons of heavy fuel oil into the ocean, The most obvious, but by no means only victims of the spill were the penguins that inhabit the islands. The catastro- phe occurred during the main penguin nesting season and massively disrupted breeding activities at both islands, Most eggs and chicks died. This wasn't the first time the penguins and their habitat have fallen victim to a spill. In 1968, the grounding, of the Esso Essen off Cape Point caused the oiling of about 1,700 African penguins. In 1983, the Castillo de Bellver spilled more than 160,000 tons of oil north of Dassen Island. In 1985, the Kapodistrias ran aground in Algoa Bay carrying 950 tons of oil. Nearly 1,200 penguins were oiled. Thanks to human error and and bad engineering, the Pine River has been poisoned. And so it goes. Despite the claims of improved safety by the oil industry, the disasters are a reg- ular occurrence and clean up is a joke. If the provincial and federal governments succumb ta the lobby and lift the the moratorium of gas and oil exploration off our coast they will not only take us much closer to envi- ronmental catastrophe but wiil encourage and assist the oil industry and all the things attached to it, from the inevitable spills to tar balis and plastic bottles that wash up on the beaches of the world to completing the construction of the global greenhouse. It should be abundantly clear to all but the delusional that the only acceptable economic initiatives are conservative ones that will sustain future generations, and have less impart on the environment. Allowing ail development to proceed on our north coast will further burden the troubled fishing industry, an industry which can be restructured and retooled lo operate more comfortably within natural systems. Places like Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound, and the coast lines that define them, are rarer now and will be rarer in the future as more and more of the world’s oceans are subject to exploitation, As a result, their tourism potential will increase. Oii platforms and the other accouterments of the oi! industry are inimical to any saleable wildemess expe- rience, Opting for the oil and gas development amounts to choosing a non renewable resource with a high negative ‘environmental impact over one a renewable natural resource, To shift into the exploratory mode and proceed with gas and ail development in advance of the settlement of First Nations’ entitlement is morally indefensible. Implicit in our constitution is the idea thal this socicty can no longer be blind to the needs of indigenous peoples as we exploil the land and the sea. We are obliged to see that the last “t” is crossed on the last treaty agreement before we entertain the nation of hydrocarbon exploitation on this rugged coast. But most importantly, isn’! it time we altempted to slow down the hydrocarbon express? Choosing the path of explo- ration and development in the turbulent seas on this coast is choosing to continue the ride; it does nothing to further cleaner, altemiate forms of transport capable of taking us safe- ly into the future. Man can and does affect the ocean, very profoundly, it appears, and one of the ways he affects it mast . are (he myriad manifestations of the oil and gas indusiry. The eminent Russian scientist, Dr. Stanislav Patin defines the contours of the problem: “Humankind,” he writes, “already dealt with the alarming lessons from ignoring grad- val and inconspicuous altemations in nature. For example, possible global climatic changes and disturbances of the ozone layer that may occur in the near future have emerged and developed as a result of the combined impacts of local sources. Each of them toa weak, insignificant, and hardly noticeable fo be taken into serious consideration, Combined together as time passed (only about a hundred years), these local changes are causing a global effect.” “Compared with the atmosphere, the World Ocean is certainly more conservative and slow to respond. It has a tonger latent period before revealing non obvious (sublle) effects, The complexity and potential tragedy of the situation lie with the fact that when the global changes in the hydros- . phere do happen, it will be toa late or impossible to do any- thin Be Civilization crawled out of the sea. It appears now that the fate of civilization hinges on what happens on her conti- nental shelves, The sea is the mother of us all, Electing the exploitive cours in one of the few remaining unexploited coaslal areas in the world ocean is (redting her the same way we have treated Her for the last century. Is no way to [reat your rom, S Former youth soccer local confused over lack of interest A PORMER TERRACE soccer player is frustrated by what he sees as the lack of community support he’s been receiving here for his youth soccer school. Aaron LeBlanc, who runs the Complete Soccer Development Systems School (CSDS) says that local soccer groups could be try- ing to edge his schoo] out of the field. “Terrace youth soccer put up a paster on their bulletin board, and took it down two days later,” he said, “It really confused me.” LeBlanc also says that the popular Credit Union soccer camps, put together by Terrace Youth Soccer, added a second week of school - during the same week as he had held his school here last year. The CSDS is doing a B.C. wide circuit of schools, stopping in places like Prince George, Kam- loops, and the Fraser Valley. Last week, the school was in Terrace and Kitimat. Kitimat soccer’ and other stops on the circuit, have given CSDS camps a lot of support, including distribution of brochures, LeBlanc said. “You want to get a varie- ty of schools and training. This is for the kids.” LeBlanc was a player with Terrace Youth Soccer through most of his childhood, before he left for UBC a few years ago. “(Terrace Youth Soccer] has done a lot of great work, like fix- ing up Christie Park, but I some- times don’t know who’s interests they’re serving.” Bev Butjas, who’s invalved in organizing the Credit Union Soc- Locals strong at games TERRACE had many strong finishers at the B.C. Summer Games in Victor- ia last month. About 30 competitors from here took part in a wide variety of events from athletics to cycling and valtieyball. In the athletics depart- ment, Justin Stiksma fin- ished eighth in the boys four by 100 metre relay, clocking in at 52.63 sec- onds, Jennifer Haynes fin- ished fourth in the girls four by 400 metre relay, and ninth in the girls tong jump. Terrace also had good representation in the cy- TERRACE STANDARD PORTS Camp wants support cer School, said that Terrace Youth Soccer doesn’t have a pro- blem with LeBlanc’s camp. She noted, however, that Le- Blanc’s camp is not endorsed by the B.C. Soccer Association. LeBlanc says that he hopes to” be registered for next year, but feels that his own qualifications are sufficient. mo He holds class two soccer re- .feree licence, and has coordinated UBC soccer programs, as well as representing B.C. at the national level. LeBlanc said that his. camps offer a lower ratio of coaches ta players than most others. “With us, it’s about seven to one, eight to one at the most, [ve seen some where it’s twenty to one,” he said. “Every kid has a ball at their feet for 12-13 hours during the week.” The emphasis at the CSDS camps, LeBlanc said, is on drib- bling and ball control. Buljas wouldn’t comment on whether or not it’s beneficial to the community to have two soccer camps. “We've stuck with the Goal- getters Credit Union Soccer camp for 14 years,” Butjas said. “You want to get a variety of schools and training,” LeBlanc said. “This is for the kids, you're supposed to give them all their | options.” Next year’s return of the CSDS is dependant on whether more support can be generated, al- though LeBlanc hopes to come back to his hometown. Twenty kids signed up for the school here this year, compared with the over 50 expected for the second Goalgetters Credit Union school later this month. The CSDS charges $80 per child aged 5-12, and, according to LeBlanc, each camp costs $2,500 per week to operate. This would mean that the break even point for the camp would be about 32 kids. The CSDS schools have been drawing as many as 45 kids in some southern camps. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, Augus! 9, 2000 - B5 638-7283 HEADING QUT of town is’a last resort for Aaron LeBlanc and his CSDS soccer school, but he says that unless the soccer com- munity becomes more open to promoting his camp, he might have to skip his hometown next year. LeBlane hinted that Credil Union money — which isn’t avail- able to him through his entirely user-funded program — could be part of the reason why that school ‘gets a better turnout. He hopes to build bridges with KIDS GET a little dribbling practice during soccer camp last week at Christie Park. About twenty kids tack part in this year's CSDS soccer program, put on by former Terrace Youth Soccer player Aaron LeBlanc, youth soccer here, and work toge- ther in promoting the sport. “T really get a lot of fulfillment out of watching children develop into good soccer players,” he said. “EUs amazing the changes yau get year to year.” Sports menu Ta get your game, event or meeting added te the Terrace Standard Sports Menu or Sports Scope, fax us at 638-6432, or you can e-mail us at slandard@kermode.net atin: Sports, Sunday, August 13 Heart and Stroke Charity Scramble at the Skeena Valley Golf and Country Club. Sunday, August 20 x McBike Wild Descent DH Gall McBike at 635- 5225 for more informa- tion, Totem Saddle Club Gymkhana at the Thorn- hill Gommunity Grounds. Runs 11 am. to 7 p.m, cling cvents. Several fami- liar names, who’ve taken part in local events placed prominently at the games. Vincent Drouin finished ninth in the cadet men’s sectian of the off-road ta- cing event with a time of 0:50:11. Chris Walker fin- ished seventh in the junior men’s off road race, elock- ing in at 1:12:17, Christine Krisinger placed seventh in the ju- niot women off-road cy- cling race, with a time of 1:13:11. Colby Burns fin- ished a strong fourth in the minime off-road race. In wrestling, Tyler Branch, and Robert Wick- ie both placed. Wickie fin- ished second in the boys 48 kg, Branch finished se- venth in the boys 84 kg and mixed team events. squad was busy preparing for River- boat Days over the past few weeks, Clear skies for Riverboat Days sports AFTER MORE than a week of blust- ery, Tainy, generally miserable condi-, tions throughout the Northwest, the skies cleared Friday and Saturday as Terrace’s Riverboat Days kicked off. If you happened to be around Thorn- hill the week before, you would have ‘naticed Terrace’s slo-pitch teams play- ing the last of their inter-league play be- fore kicking off the tournament. Park Avenue was abound with high speed soap boxes zipping past lower Lit- tle Park, and the Skeena looked a little yellow with all the rubber duckies floa- ting downstream. The dunk tank, in the Safeway park- ing lot may have been a welcome relief -from the heat for those who were luck enough to end up in it, Look for results and pictures in week’s Terrace Standard, with registration at 10:30 a.m. «Kiddies Day, last points Day at the Ter- race Speedway. August 24-25 xJunior Club Cham- pionships at lhe Skeena Valley Golf and Country Club. Saturday, Sept. 2 veTerrace Drag R sedi Association races i : Terrace Kitimat Airport. Continues September 3. Sunday, Sept. 3 “Totem Saddle Club : annual Gymkhana at the Thornhill Gommunity nex Grounds. Reg. at 9 a.m,