British Columbia

Residents
to appeal
pipeline
approval

Burnaby residents who fought a
campaign against Trans Mountain
Pipeline’s plans to expand the capac-
ity of its crude oil pipeline and tank
farm say they won’t accept the
National Energy Board’s approval of
the project as the final word on the
issue.

Residents’ spokesperson Dave Fai-
rey said that the group met Monday
night and will be pursuing a number
of alternatives, including a direct
appeal to the federal cabinet, applica-
tions for new hearings before the NEB
as well as appeals to the federal trans-
port and environment departments,
asking that they become involved.

Immediately, residents will be seek-
ing the counsel of the Environmental
Law Association and will be holding a
community meeting in about two
weeks to consider further action, Fai-
rey said.

“We called for a total environmen-
tal impact assessment prior to any
approval of the project and we don’t
feel that assessment was conducted,”
Fairey said.

In an Aug. 17 decision, the NEB
dismissed claims of potential envir-
onmental damage posed by the pipe-
line and tank farm expansion and
gave Trans Mountain approval to
proceed with its $57 million project.

The NEB claimed that special
scrubbers that Trans Mountain prom-
ised to install on the new tanks would
eliminate any environmental prob-
lem.

But residents counter that the NEB
did not fully take into account the
dangers posed by increased tanker
traffic in Burrard Inlet, nor did it note
the fact that ships loading the crude
oil would not have scrubbers to
reduce the noxious smell that has been
the bane of many Burnaby residents
for years. :

Burnaby NDP MP Svend Robin-
son said he will also be pressing for an
appeal, emphasizing that the NEB
decision was a “‘serious blow to Bur-
naby residents.”

He noted that a petition protesting
the expansion had generated more
public response than any_ previous
issue in the riding.

UVic military research hit

Special to The Tribune

Some 200 people took part in a noon-
hour rally at the University of Victoria Aug.
19 to protest a proposal to conduct research
at the university on the medical effects of
germ warfare. .

Sponsored by the Greater Victoria Dis-
armament Group, the rally was called to
pressure the university to formulate a clear
policy on military research and funding and
to ban any research into biological, chemi-
cal and nuclear weapons.

Organizers launched a petition campaign
which will be carried out on campus and in
the community and is aimed at putting

pressure on the university’s board of gover- :

nors and UVic president Howard Petch. _
The crisis began with the revelation that
Dr. Francis Nano of the university’s micro-

biology department had applied to the U.S. -

Army Medical Research and Development
Command at Fort Detrick, in Frederick,
Maryland, requesting funding to study the
effects of “francisella tularensis,” com-

Public health officials in Victoria
were alarmed by the reports

about rabbit fever because the .

disease is unknown on Van-
couver Island and because the
university lacks adequate labor-
atory facilities to ensure that the
disease organisms would be
safely contained.

monly known as rabbit fever. In his applica-
tion, Dr. Nano stressed the value of
protecting U.S. soldiers from the effects of
biological weapons in the event of a nuclear
war.

For many years, the U.S. Army has con-
centrated on francisella tularensis strains of
bacteria because it attacks the body’s

Coalition sets action
against privatization

The newly-formed labour-community
Coquitlam Council for Public Services will
be taking the issues of free trade and privati-
zation right into local communities with a
series of public meetings beginning Aug. 31
in Port Moody.

Council representative Lorna Morford
said the coalition was established earlier this
year with the support of several unions,
including the Canadian Union of Public
Employees, Office and Technical Empl-
oyees, Canadian Union of POstal Workers,
Letter Carriers, Hospital Employees, Can-
adian Association of Industrial, Mechanical
and Allied Workers, United Transportation
Union, Telecommunications Workers and
Union of Psychiatric Nurses together with
community groups, including the Associa-

tion of Coquitlam Electors, the Colony -

MORFORD

Farm Preservation Group and the BCGEU
retirees organization. :

“Our mandate was to inform the public
about free trade and privatization — and
both are going to be key issues in the
upcoming federal election,” she said.

The opening meeting is set for Aug. 31,
7:30 p.m. in the Ioco Recreation Centre, 300
Toco Road in Port Moody.

Coquitlam-Port Moody NDP candidate
Ian Waddell — currently the sitting mem-
ber for Vancouver-Kingsway — headlines
a list of speakers which includes Paul Law-
rence, chair of the Transportation of Dan-
gerous Goods Committee of the UTU, and
Jean Swanson from End Legislated Pov-
erty.

The schedule for the three additional
meetings, slated for consecutive Wednes-
days, is as follows:

® Sept. 7, 7:30 p.m. at the Hyde Creek
Centre, 1379 Laurier St., Port Coquitlam.

© Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m. at Central School,
Shaughnessy St. and Central Ave., Port
Coquitlam.

@ Sept. 21, 7:30 p.m. at Chimo Pool
Recreation Centre, 620 Poirier St., Coqui-
tlam.

In addition to the meetings, Morford
said, the council will be sending out bro-
chures on free trade and privatization to
some 36,000 households in the Coquitlam
area — 9,000 before each meeting.

She said the council is also looking for
volunteers to help in distribution. Anyone
who can assist should contact her at 936-
0380.

immune system. Dr. Nano himself wa)

inoculated against the disease in the U:S. b)
the U.S. Army.

Public health officials in Victoria wel
alarmed by the reports about rabbit fevé!
because the disease is unknown on Val
couver Island and because the universil)
lacks adequate laboratory facilities
ensure that the disease organisms would
safely contained.

The $225,757 research grant proposal hé
been put on hold pending a review by 4!
expert panel which will be appointed by tht
chief provincial health officer, Dr. Hu;

. Richards, and the B.C. Centre for Diseas

Control.

UVic president Howard Petch said Aug
11 that research using a non-deadly-strall
of bacteria would be carried out at the unt
versity if only federal permits were grant
to import the organisms and if a decisio!
were made build a more secure containmet!

laboratory. He asked Ottawa to hold W)

any import permits pending the review pat
el’s report. :

The university is also trying to obtall
funds from sources other than the U»
Army to conduct the research.

—

Strathcona
gathering
Sept. 3-5

The Friends of Strathcona Park has sé
the Labour Day weekend — Sept. 3,4 and

5 —for its second annual Wildernes
Gathering to highlight the campaign to halt
mining in the provincial park. 3

Various speakers will be taking part #
the three-day event, including televisio?
commentator Dr.
David Suzuki and
environmentalist
Paul Watson, as
well as Colleen
McCrory of the B.C.
Environmental Net-
work and Father
Charles Brandt of
the Oyster River
Enhancement Soc-
iety. —

The main event, SUZUKI
which includes a traditional Native wel
come, will get underway Saturday at !

a.m: at the south end of Buttle Lake, ju

before the turnoff to the Westmin Resou!
ces mine. There will also be speakers at
workshops later in the day.

The program Sunday and Monday
involves outdoor activities, including a hi”
into the Cream Lake wilderness, now thre4”
tened with mining exploration.

Friends of Strathcona has waged a can!
paign for more than a year to block renewed
resource activity prompted by the provil!
cial government’s decision last year A
change the park boundaries and allow mil"
ing and logging in certain areas.

In January, 1988, the environmentdl
group began civil disobedience actiot®
against Cream Silver Mine’s mining exp!”
ration in the Buttle Lake area. Of 64 peoplé
arrested during the campaign, only thre
have so far gone to trial, all of whom wef
convicted of mischief and given six months
probation. Trials for the remaining 61 at
set to begin in October.

More than 200 people turned out for thé
first Wilderness Gathering last year bu!
organizers are expecting triple that numb

‘ next weekend. For more information, col™

tact the Friends office in Courtenay at 33%
1944,