Alcan sells of Kemano eq uipment And here’s a deal for you AN EDMONTON company is creating an instant city on the outskirts of Terrace. “Its beginning to bring in _ large numbers of buildings that once housed hundreds of workers at Alcan’s now- dead. Kemano Completion Project. PTI Group bought the - buildings as part of its busi- hess of providing turn-key accommodations facilities to "places as far flung as the former Soviet Union or as close as a northem B.C, mine, says company spokes- man Bob MacLean. - : “We have bunkhouses, offices, even some brand new mobile homes,’’ said MacLean of the haul it’s taking from the Kemano area, “PTI’s main Alcan pur- chase is the 600-bed camp the company erecled outside of Kemano and it’s also bought a smaller 180-bed facility. . “Well go in and set everything up, frora accom- modations to food services to recreation facililies,’’ said MacLean of his company’s business. ‘PTL hopes to dispose of what it bought as soon as possible. The PTI buy is just one part of a massive sell off by Alcan of many millions of dollars worth of equipment it assembled for its Kemano Completion Project. Started in 1988, the pro- ject would have taken more water from the Nechako River to produce more hydro-electric power, The project was put on hold at the end of the 1980s and officially killed last year by. the provincial govern- ment because of environ- mental and other considera- tions, Alcan spent more than $500 million on the abortive project: and is now trying ta recoup what it can by sell- ing off what it bought, The sell off might be de- scribed as one of the largest Barage sales in provincial history. And it includes the ex- pensive turbine equipment Alcan had hoped to use to Zenerate power, says the company official in charge of disposing the assets. “Not too many projects out there may require exact- ly what we have but we PEE Se BARGE FULL of surplus pick up trucks from Alcat the Kemano project now dead, Alcan is undertaki off a multitude of equipment. Some of the pick ups will be PHOTO COURTESY JOHN HURST, THE INGOT. ng one of n's Kemano Completion Project takes to the high seas. With the largest garage sales in the province by sailing used by Alcan's Kemano and Kitimat operations. have the word out,’”? said Mike Bruneau of the turbine and other power equipment that’s on the block. Some of what’s for sale — one-third of a fleet of nearly 60 pick ups trucks, for in- stance — is being used by Alcan’s existing operations at Kemano and at Kitimat. Other equipment is being Kemano group keeps active By DERRICK PENNER DON'T EXPECT the Kitimat Community Coalition to lay low now that talks between Alcan and the province over the cancellation of the Kemano Completion Project are on hold, Coalition spokesman Allen Wakita says his group plans to start what he calls a public education campaign to sell a negotiated settlement to the province and counter opposi- tion organizations who don’t want that to happen. He said the coalition is prepared for the cancellation of the project to become an election issuc. “This (settlement) is still the only chance people on ei- ther side, whether you’re from Kilimat or Vanderhoof, have of finding a win-win situation for everyone,” Wakita said. The province and Alcan agreed last year to try negotlat- Ing an agreement to wrap up legal loose ends that arose out of the provincial government’s decision to scrap KCP. ’ - The agreement provided the basis for a public proccss to manage existing water flows in the Nechako River and for a power sale agreement. It ran out March 31 with neither being settled. ; Letting the framework agreement lapse gives both sides their legal options back, but both claim progress during ne- gotiations and have committed to re-starling talks at a later Oo Wakita called this a good sign and added more attention needs to be focused on some of the provisions being nego- tiated in the deal. He singled out the willingness of the sides to Include the Kenney Dam cold water release facility (ADRF) — a com- ponent of KCP designed to improve cooling lows of water to the upper Nechako — as part of the agreement. “It seems to address a lot of the concerns the people on the Nechako would have, so why wouldn't they be in favour of this agrcement?”’ Wakita queried. He added it would ensure job securliy on the Kitimat side of the reservoir while allowing Alcan {o- better barged down to Vancouver for re-sale, added Bruneau, The list includes a tunnel boring machine, capable of crealing a hole that’s 5.7 metres in diameter, “Now that’s a major piece of equipment — $7 mil- lion’,’? said Bruneau. One large piece of excava- tion equipment used to carve out penstocks for the hydro project was sold to an Australian mining company. And some equipment, in- cluding a Gre truck for a fire department south of Burns Lake, has been donated for community use. Up to 60 people at any one lime are at Kemano bun- dling up equipment and readying it for transport. The wind up of Alcan’s Kemano project includes environmental work to wipe out practically any trace it once exisied. This includes seceding and pulting vegetation on ground that once housed construction camps, Bruneau says the company won't come close to recoup- ing what it spent on the pro- ject. He estimates the environ- mental and clean up work will cost close to $10 mil- lion when it’s finished. eee see matty : Pa apa JUST LIKE new Is this cement plant left over from Alcan's now dead Kemano Completion Project. It Is just one of many examples of equipment that lay unused since the construction project closed down. : The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 1, 1996 - AS a a CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag MP Scott’s off base in Nisga’a deal comments Dear Sir: Skeena Reform MP Mike Scott's Jatest attack on the Nisga’a and the agreement in principle (AIP) is another demonstration of his abilily to skew statements and craft untruth. In a recent press release he says ‘‘The AIP has been crafied behind closed doors without public knowledge, debate or consent.” This is false. Scott had knowledge of how much land was involved two years ago, He pro- duced and distributed a pamphlet which headlined the settlement of 2,000 square kilometres or eight per cent of the Nisga’a claim. Debate? As a leader of the Skeena public Scott has done little else but debate Nisga’a land claims, Mike Scott debated Joc Gosnell on a special TV broadcast, he has held ‘‘public’’ (only those of Scott’s views were invited as panctists) meetings to debate the issue. For Scott ta say that there was no public knowledge or debate is outright untruth. Scott's press release goes on to say that “Cashore and Irwin are on record denying the public a right to vote.’” Again, false. Neither cabinet minister has Spoken against elections, In Canada and B,C. the public votes once very four or five years. Scott in fact implores people to use the next election in B.C, to vote against the AIP. First he says we weren’l given a vote, then he says to vote carefully in the election. Mike, your logic is lost. Finally the quote “‘Do we accept thal native homelands will be constructed in this province in a manner frighteningly similar to South Africa?’’ This comparison is completely skewed, Jn South Africa Blacks were told to relocate to small plots of the most worthless land, the so called ‘‘homelands”, They were not allowed to live anywhere else in the country, In South Africa the homelands” were imposed. In B.C, and Canada indigenous people have had their Jand and children forcibly removed and language and cul- ture prohibited. That's as far as the comparison goes. Nisga’a, B.C, and Canada sat together to negotiate willingly, freely and fairty. Negotiating modern treaties is an attempt to redress past wrongs, An attempt to re- store what has been stolen and to forgive and ignoble past. Scolt’s emotive hyperbole sounds more like the smear politics of old. Mudraking and yellow polilics is good for none. Many people thought Reform offered more, Joe Barrett, Prince Rupert, B.C. Joe Barrett ran, and lost, against Mike Scott in the 1993 election as the candidate for the New Demo- cratic Party. Tax money misspent Dear Sir; It must be comforting for our present Skeena MLA to tell us, in his fecent newspaper ads, bow well we have done in Skeena. However, it could not have been Very comforting to the many residents of Skeena who remain unemployed. It certainly was not comforting for me to know that Mr. Giesbrecht is desperately politicking for his re- election using taxpayer dollars on those ads. The fact that his ads are entitled MLA Report makes them no less blatant an advertising vehicle for his re- election. Would the taxpayer dollars that paid for these ads not be better spent on health and education? The more than $2,000 of tax money he has spent on ads would have provided one or two more hospital beds for the day, or entry-level employment for some young person, or a teacher’s aide salary, Hopefully the election call will be made soon, Rick Wozney, Liberal candidate, Skeena, Kitimat, B.C. Job loss clarified Dear Sir: The April 17 issue of The Terrace Standard included an article on school district amalgamation titled “Kitimat an unhappy camper over education merger deal.” The line “'Giesbrecht predicts at the very least, 11 jobs will no longer be required’? may leave the wrong impression. It should have read ‘‘At the very most 11 positions might be lost.’ . If we were to assume that there are currently 11 people in either of the districts who are not putting in a full day’s work and who could absorb the workload of another 11, then at most 11 positions might be lost. Clearly the Kitimat and Terrace school boards will have to determine the number of people required in the new amalgamated administration. Lost would be at most 11 jobs, but it will probably be less than that number. It is my position that any job losses must be shared equally by the two boards as this is a merger of two boards and not the absorption of the smaller by the larger. Now is the time for representatives of the two boards to sit down and work out a transition process and work out what the governance structure of the new board will look like. All the communities in the new Kitimat-Terrace school district need to receive assurance that their schools will be able to contiave to deliver educational service unique to their community. Helmut Giesbrecht, MLA Skeena, Terrace, B.C, About letters The Terrace Standard welcomes let- ters to the editor. Our deaditine is noon Fridays. You can write us at 3210 Clinton St., Terrace, B.C. V8G 5A2. Our fax number is 604-638-8432, E-mail Is terrace.standard@sasquat.com |-_____smaintain existing water flows to the river