A14 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 10, 1997

Former MP dismisses offshore drilling plan

LIFTING AN oil and gas drilling moratorium between Prince Rupert and the Queen Charlotte Islands is a bad idea, says former Skeena NDP MP Jim Fulton. ‘

billions required for off- shore drilling,’’ said Fulton. While he conceded that

; the northcoast waters are ‘shallow, the weather can be

extreme. “Winds there can be in

Environmental considera- gexcess of 100 miles an hour,

tions far outweigh the ad- vantages. of drilling and the cost would make a final pro- duct too expensive, he said,

Fulton was responding to the Prince Rupert-based North Coast Oi] and Gas Task Force which wants the moratorium lifted to fully explore the producing potential of the Queen Char- lotte Basin.

The task force says there’s a massive quantity of oil , and gas under the seabed, presenting an opportunity for jobs and investment on the north coast.

But Fulton, who was the MP when the moratorium was placed in the 1980s for safety and environmental reasons, isn’t convinced there's sufficient quantity to contemplate commercial production, .

“There are huge gas wells in the northeast producing a . huge volume of gas at a cost : that couldn’t be met by the

Kitimat recycle

offer denied

TERRACE CITY council- lors say they’re not inter- ested in a scheme that: would make Kitimat the region’s recycling ceatre.

Justead, they’ve given city administration the go-ahead io explore other options and report back.

; The 3 R’s Recycling Pro- ject, circulated by the. Kitimat-Stikine Regional District and pushed by the. District of Kitimat, would have cost $139,000 a year and would have reduced the amount of waste entering landfills by an estimated 10 per cent,

Kitimat Understanding the Environment (KUTE) would be contracted to pro- “cess recyclable material, making that city the region’s base for recycling. The group would send a truck to Terrace six times a year to pick up recyclables here.

The project would also in- clude an education program

and creation of demonstra- _

tion gardens.

But Terrace councillors choked on the proposal’s re- quest for a $50,000-a-year project coordinator.

They objected to Kitimat’s contention that KUTE be given the contract instead of . calling for bids through 4- tendering process.

And they claimed the cost- sharing formula was geared : to load an unfair share of the cosis onto Terrace.

If council had said yes, Terrace would have paid

4

$51,800 a year as ils share,

while Kitimat would have’ paid $36,700. That’s be-

cause half the cost-sharing © was based on assessed prop-

erty values, not including

heavy industry.

Councillor David Hull said the cost-sharing should be simply based on popula- tion, not assessments,

“This is crazy talk,’’ he said. ‘‘This plan isn’t going to do a thing for us to be honest,””

He added that it a regional tecycling operation would make the most sense located in Terrace.

City director of enginecer- ing Stew Christensen said it’s possible the city could partner with a recycling op- eration in Prince Rupert.

Hull: argued a city- operated composting project could do almost as much as recycling to reduce the waste stream.

Councillor Val. George said that ultimately the pro- vince should be providing assistance to help com- munities establish recycling, projects in the hinterlands.

tuming the Hecate into a huge pot of churning water and that means eavironmen- tal and safety issues,’’ said Fulton.

“A blow out would have a huge, huge impact. To do something like that in waters producing half of the B.C. salmon catch worth $200 million a year would be catastrophic.’’

Fulton said oil and gas companies which did bave offshore leases have now tumed them back to the

” government,

FALL SPECIAL

Jim Fulton

“THURS. D

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Na H heen

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