Wednesday, January 29, 1992 @ Cashore bold plan has huge price — jobs Whether or not people get mad at government, “all depends on whose ox is being gored,” Dave Barrett, the first NDP premier of British Columbia used to say. Last week, Environment Minister John Cashore managed to gore a beau- ty of an ox that got quite a few people mad at him. Cashore announced what he called “tough but fair” pulp pollution regula- tions that are to eliminate the dump- ing of chlorinated organic compounds into rivers and the ocean. That’s good, if, indeed, we need to reduce the deposit of these compounds below the current level. Unfortunately, the new regulations also have the potential to kill the pulp mill industry. And that’s not so good. The proposed law calls for a reduc- tion of so-called AOX compounds to 1.5 kilograms per tonne of effluent re- leased into waterways by 1995. The current level is 2.5 kilograms per tonne. By 2002, the discharge is to be free of any AOX compunds, but any pulp mill that can produce a viable plan to achieve zero-discharge levels by 2000 may skip the 1995 deadline calling for the 1.5-kilogram limit. You would think that the minister arrived at his decision to get tough with NDP members move to political forefront Report from Victoria Hubert BEYER pulp mills after lengthy consultation with the industry. How does 20 minutes sound? That’s all the time he allotted to attending a meeting with industry officials. Tm not surprised. Cashore is not what one might call an impartial ar- biter in environmental matters. He is a committed environmental activist who assesses any situation from a purely environmental point of view. Cashore is so green they have to wa- ter him twice a day. When he an- nounced the new regulations, he ad- mitted that the pulp mill industry made “significant improvements in the levels of pollution in their effluent” over the past few years, but added that the presence of any AOX in the long term is It was almost an Interior mini-Parliament last week as New Democrat MPs and new- ly-elected NDP members of the B.C. Legislature assem- bled in Penticton. Expanding on the long- standing Interior Caucus of NDP MPs, five MLAs joined in to compare policies, issues and to prepare united re- _.. sponses to issues affecting the entire region. At both the fed- eral and provincial levels, it Lyle KRISTIANSEN unacceptable. The industry has, indeed, made sig- nificant progress. Fletcher Challenge along spent about $500 million the past few years on environmental improve- ments to its installations. The indus- try as a whole spent more than $1 bil- lion on cleaning up its act. These improvements have made pulp mills in British Columbia among the cleanest in the world, certainly the cleanest in Canada. In Quebec, for in- stance, pulp mills haven't even reached the 2.5-kilogram level of AOX per tonne yet, and they’re applying to the feder- al government for exemptions from that requirement. Chances are very good the government will approve those application for exemption. The biggest problem with Cashore’s unre- lenting zeal is that the technology to make mill effluent totally free of AOX compounds hasn’t been invented yet, but that doesn’t seem to phase the min- ister. The other joker in Cashore’s envi- ronmental cleanup deck is the reprieve he is offering the industry at the mid- way point of his strategy. Allowing mills to skip the 1.5-kilogram level by 1995, provided they can produce a plan that shows complete elimination of AOX compounds by the year 2000, may easily backfire on him. CASTLE GLASS & WINDSHIELD LTD. OUR PRICES ARE There are quite a number of older mills in British Columbia, and there's nothing stopping them from coming up with a wonderful scheme by 1995, pointing the way towards a zero-AOX effluent in 2,000 without ever having any intentions of following through on that plan. They could simply operate at the 2.5 kilogram level until the year 2,000 and then shut the mills down. | But even if between now and 1995, science provides the’ technology to make pulp mills effluent totally free of AOX compounds, the cost would be staggering, and forcing the industry in British Columbia to implement that technology would probably make them noncompetitive. The result would be that we might have the cleanest pulp mills in the world, but.they couldn’t compete and would have to shut down. We could stop making pulp and pa- per altogether. We could stop falling trees, we could shut down the steel mills in Ontario and improve the air quality immeasurably. We could have the cleanest environment in the world almost overnight, but at what price? It’s one thing for Cashore to want to make B.C. an environmental model, it’s quite another to do so at the risk of thousands of jobs. seems, the New Democrat rep- resentatives want to ensure a focus on Interior B.C. issues. Joining the elected officials were several staff members, including former Nelson . May- or and Constit ry Assistant to MP Lyle Kristiansen, Ger- ald Rotering. On issues such as conicern over the American nuclear facility at Hanford, tions, delegations and political concerns of voters. Ahighlight of the Penticton assembly for the staff mem- bers was a tour of Revenue Canada’s district office there. The MPs staffers were made familiar with an office they of- ten consult on behalf of con- stituents facing income tax problems. Attending the caucus ses- sions were members of Parlia- ment Lyle Kristiansen, Chair VINYL WINDOWS & PATIO DOORS "Made in Canada for Canadians” . METAL INSULATED DOORS "Made in Canada for Canadians" Lyle MacWilliam, host MP Jack Whittaker, NDP nation- al Deputy Party leader Nelson Riis and Brian Gardiner. "If you Gidn't get a price from us you probably paid too much.” CASTLE GLASS & WINDSHIELD LTD. 2228 6TH AVENUE CASTLEGAR 24 senvice oe 365-7666 Fax: 365-2586 y, January 29, 1992 OurPEOPLE Hospital Helpers Auxiliary opens door for progress Scott David Harrison EDITOR When Nettie Stupnikoff looks at the Castlegar hospital, she sees more than four w: She has to. As president of the Castlegar and District Hospital Auxiliary, Stupnikoff sees opportunities behind each wall and every door. If it isn’t fundraising for much-needed fetal monitors, it’s a rammage sale for an equally-important lung machine. “We want to help the hospital as best we can,” Stupnikoff said. And lending that helping hand is exactly what the auxiliary is doing. The auxiliary will extend, its hand that much Partner: in the coming mont In March, thie ciate will open its first-ever thrift shop. The shop is designed to help keep those needed hospital funds flowing. “Our primary concern is raising funds for the hospital,” Stupnikoff said. “We want to help in any way we can to make sure the hospital gets the equipment it needs.” The auxiliary was formed in 1957, a full year before: the Castlegar hospital was built. Some 35 years later, the auxiliary has a membership of 65 women and three men, including founding members Magaret Obedkoff, Bella Moran and Phyllis Lamb. Through the years, the auxiliary has bent over backwards to help the Castlegar hospital. It’s a service the auxiliary would never accomplish had it not been for the dollars and cents of the community around it. “We can’t say enough of this community,” Stupnikoff said. “With out the community’s support we would never be able to do the things we have.” Those ‘things’ include the fetal monitors, a lung machine and a full Century bathtub for the Castlegar hospital. In addition to equipment, the auxiliary. runs the hospital’s gift shop, rolling gift cart and provides support for those always- appreciated ‘Candystripers.’ But it doesn’t end there. In 1991, the auxiliary handed the Mountain View Lodge $18,000. A portion of that money went towards the purchase of writing desks — some of which needed to be wheelchair accessible. Stupnikoff said the thrift shop will help the auxiliary secure a future of giving. “We feel it will be really beneficial to the community,” she said. “I’m News photo by Ed Mills Work at the Castlegar and District Hospital Auxiliary’s new thrift shop is well underway, thanks to the hands of Paul Pitura. Located in downtown Castlegar, the shop will be open in mid-March. really excited about this and so are the other members of the auxiliary.” The idea for a thrift shop happened quite by accident. Recent debate over the fate of the Kinnaird Hall left the auxiliary wondering where it would hold its next rummage sale. After a few anxious moments, they decided to go it alone and open thrift shop. “We’ve talked. about doing something like this for a long time,” she said. “I guess (the uncertainty of Kinnaird Hall) was the push we needed.” : Stupnikoff is hoping the thrift shop will help the auxiliary “make as much money as we can,” adding that annual rummage § sales generated between $5,000 to $6,000 for the hospital. Operating on volunteer labor and donated goods, the thrift shop will be located at 1128 3rd St., behind Castlegar’s - Pharmasave. Construction to the structure is in full swing. “We already have plans on how we want it to look,” she said. “Everyone seems to have an idea of how they want it to work.” And while the thrift shop is still two months away, Stupnikoff says that hasn’t stopped the community from supportting it. She said the thrift shop has been embraced by Castlegar’s business community, which is helping to foot the bill for construction. She added. that citizens have been coming forward with goods as well. “Since we have come across with this idea and have started working on our thrift shop, the community and the businesses have given us nothing but positive feedback,” Stupnikoff said. “We need that because something like this is totally and solely dependent on the community, which has been very generous to us in the past.” To ensure shoppers have a selection come opening day, the auxiliary is accepting donations each and every Saturday at the shop location. The drop off hours are between 10 a.m. and noon. For larger items, pick ups will be arranged. In addition, Stupnikoff said the auxiliary is always looking for volunteers to work in the thrift shop. “Any help we can get, we'll appreciate,” Stupnikoff said. “We are counting on the community to help us make this work.” eee For more information on the thrift shop, contact Stupnikoff at 365-6587. Also, the next meeting of the auxiliarywill take place on Feb. 17 in the hospital board room at 7:30 p.m. New bers are wel