A2 CastlegarNews _ October 24, 1990 LOCAL/PROVINCIAL NEWS BRIEFLY By CasNews Staff Ministry Archeology study criticized A study that concludes expansion of the Celgar pulp mill is unlikely to disturb or destroy any ancient artifacts in the area was badly done, Selkirk College instructor Mark Mealing says. Noting that most of the area around the pulp mill was disturbed and developed before concern for sites was Mealing said the study by Arcas Consulting Archaeologists Ltd. ‘‘took this poor situation for granted, applied skimpy, badly scheduled field research methods and made hasty recommendations.’’ “There is, indeed, no likelihood that archeological sites will be discovered on the Celgar property. But such a report ensures that none will be discovered,”’ Mealing told the panel reviewing Celgar’s proposal to expand and modernize the pulp mill. Mealing was speaking Saturday during technical hearings into the company’s proposal. Field research for the study, which is part of Celgar’s second impact assessment report, was carried out in March. “One might suggest, very softly and gently, that snow-covered, frozen ground is usually inhospitable for an archeological survey . . .,"” Mealing said. However, he added that much of the report is ‘‘pretty reasonable and accurate."’ Differing opinions clash An exchange last week between a lawyer representing environmental groups and a forestry consultant whose company helped prepare Celgar Pulp Co.’s second impact assessment report served to demonstrate that much of the debate over the company’s expansion and modernization proposal and its possible impacts is based on differing views of the environment. Kenyon McGee, who represents organizations such as the Valhalla Society and the Slocan Valley Watershed Alliance through an umbrella group, questioned Harry Gairns’s high pgaise of intensive silviculture practices in Sweden during the first day of technical hearings into Celgar’s proposal. Day one focused on the wood-chip supply the expanded mill would require. McGee, noting that Sweden’s flourishing forests and wildlife population are no longer as highly varied as they are in natural environments, asked Gairns if he would agree Sweden’s environment is ‘completely altered.”” Gairns said that if that is the case, ‘‘it’s been going on so long in Sweden that I don’t know what it’s altered from.”” Gairns said he does not envision such an environment for B.C. and instead would expect to eventually see a mix of forest types, including preserved old-growth forests. McGee said Gairns’s concept of forestry seems to be based on the idea of man as manager. Gairns replied that he ascribes to a philosophy of “enhanced stewardship.”” Earth advocates make point Libby and Frank Ruljancich, two Deer Park residents who call themselves ‘‘citizen advocates for the earth,’’ say Celgar Pulp Co. has in the past demonstrated its lack of concern for the environment and the inhabitants of the area and that is unlikely to change if a proposed expansion and modernization project goes ahead. The couple made their point to the panel conducting a review of the company’s proposal by reading documents from the waste management branch of the Ministry of Environment for an hour Saturday during day three of technical hearings into the proposal. The documents concerned spills of toxic wastes into the Columbia River and times when the mill’s air emissions have exceeded levels permitted by the ministry. Lorne Parnell, vi of Power C Inc., one of Celgar’s parent companies, told reporters the correspondence between the ministry and the company in late 1988 concerning problems at the 30-year-old mill ‘‘directly led”’ to the modernization proposal that is being reviewed now. Ald., mayor debate issue Ald. Terry.Rogers and Mayor Audrey Moore carried on a heated debate during Tuesday’s council meeting over the difference between Personnel matters and staffing positions. Personnel changes, which involve specific employees, are always discussed in closed sessions. Rogers mai: thata during a pi ive services committee meeting, which considered a change to RCMP staffing levels, should not be kept secret since the discussion took place during an open committee meeting. Ald. Lawrence Chernoff, chairman of the committee, also expressed surprise that the matter was not included in the minutes of the committee meeting. The decision to remove notes on the discussion from the minutes was made by the mayor and city administrator Gary Williams, Chernoff noted. Chernoff said the committee was not asked about removal of the notes from the minutes and the issue of whether the discussion should be confidential was not brought up at the committee meeting. Policy committee called useless The policy committee of the Castlegar school board is not being used enough by the board and should be eliminated, policy committee chairman Tony Guglielmi says. “I’ve been sitting on my fanny for a year and a half doing nothing in the way of policy,” Guglielmi told the Castlegar News. During that time, the board has been passing motions at the board table that affect policy often without researching the implications of the changes, he said. The board should instead make each committee responsible for Preparing its own policy, especially since members of each committee have the most knowledge about the area they administer, he said. The board voted to table Guglielmi’s motion after discussing the issue during last week’s board meeting. Fire destroys shed, antiques Twelve Castlegar firefighters responded to a blaze in a storage shed at 135 Columbia Ave. at about 12:15 a.m. Tuesday that completely gutted the structure and destroyed antique equipment stored in the shed, Castlegar fire chief Bob Mann said. There is no estimate of damages yet and the cause of the fire is under investigation, Mann added. (China) Pulp LOTTERIES The winning numbers drawn Tuesday in the B.C. Keno lottery were 2, 3, 10, 13, 23, 34, 47 and 55. The winning numbers drawn Mon- day in the B.C. Keno lottery were 3, 4, 10, 11, 21, 22, 37 and 54. * Woolco (Prices effective Oct. 24-Oct. 31) Not all flyers receive tull distribution The winning numbers in Saturday's Lotto 6/49 draw were 6, 14, 15, 19, 26 and 28. The bonus number was 49. There was no winner of the jackpot prize of $10 million. The four Extra winning numbers for British Columbia on Saturday were 37, 63, 76 and 86. The winning numbers drawn Saturday in the B.C. Keno lottery were 11, 14, 17, 21, 38, 41, 48 and 53 The winning numbers in the Ex- press draw for Jaguar cars were 789586, 539752, 375498 and 601007. The winning Lotto BC numbers were 19, 20, 24, 31, 34 and 35. from front page would cost about $2.5 million per year, the ministry says. Ltd., which helped prepare Celgar’s second impact assessment report, concluded the pavement on most of Highways 6 and 23 has reached the end of its useful life. The pavement is likely not adequate for the current volume and com- position of traffic and any increase int traffic, particularly heavy trucks and recreational vehicles, *‘will accelerate pavement deterioration,"’ the report states. The ministry is also considering work on a number of areas on High- ways 6 and 23 that Celgar’s consultan- ts identified as not meeting highway said Gordon the ministry’s regional director in * Nelson. However, the changes, which are expected to cost between $23 million and $30 million, are still in the plan- ning stages, Sutherland said. Celgar’s consultants identified the railway crossing at Crescent Valley, pacirpries .Creek, Rosebery Bluffs, ministry’ 's brief Work on Rosebery Bluffs is scheduled for next year but the fun- ding will be for work on the rock bluff only and there may not be any changes made to the highway at that time, Sutherland said. The ministry is not planning to make changes to the ferry approach now and “‘it is incumbent on the truckers’’ to get their vehicles up the hill, Sutherland said. The ministry has also identified Silverton Hill as needing reconstruc- tion and it is the most expensive project the ministry has under con- sideration, the brief says. The cost of that project is estimated at between $10 million and $14 million. The junction of Highways 3A and 6 will be redesigned next year when a second layer of pavement is placed over the layer of recycled pavement area highways are receiving now, Don Barcham, the ministry’s regional manager of planning, told the Castlegar News. Other projects under consideration by the Highways Ministry include a bridge between Castlegar and Rob- son, which has been directly linked to ~~ approval of the Celgar expansion, and a highway along'the Arrow Lakes between Robson and Fauquier. The ministry intends to look at the entire Arrow Lakes corridor in a study planned for next year that could take about a year to complete, said Kirk Rockerbie, an analyst with the ministry's policy branch in Victoria. By CasNews Staff Technical hearings on the Proposed expansion and moder- nization of the Celgar pulp mill will continue into November. The Celgar Expansion Review Panel announced Tuesday that Nov. 1 has been set aside for technical hearings into the Proposed $650 million project's expected effect on air quality in the Castlegar area. The panel may also extend the hearings to Nov. 2 Celgar hearings stretch into Nov. if required, the panel said in a news release announcing the revised schedule. Pulp mill process, and water quality and fisheries are the sub- jects which the panel will deal with as the hearings resume tomorrow in Castlegar. The hearings on the Proposed project’s impact on water quality and fisheries will continue Oct. 26 and 27. All sessions will take place in the banquet room of the Hi Arrow Motel beginning at 8 a.m. City hall apologizes for goof By CasNews Staff Most of the approximately 40 People who attended a public hearing Tuesday concerning several planned bylaws were there to protest a change to the zoning in their area that city council wasn’t planning to make, city administrator Gary Williams, said. The problem occurred because of an error city staff made when Publishing the zoning changes in a notice of public hearings, Williams explained. Residents living around Ron’s Motel at 2100 Crestview Crescent were upset because they thought the city planned to rezone the property to general commercial from multi-family residential, Williams said. But no zoning changes are planned for the property. During the hearing, Mayor Audrey Moore read a statement correcting the error and apologizing for ‘‘the upset and concern that this has caused people.” However, the correction will mean the bylaw, which contained several Proposed zoning changes, must be the subject of a second public hearing, set for 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 13 in council chambers at city hall. A corresponding change to the of ficial community plan, which must be amended along with the zoning changes to ensure the plan remains consistent with zoning in the city, will also be open for discussion at the same public hearing, Williams said. B.C. ready to fight with feds VANCOUVER (CP) — Canada’s highest court may be asked to settle the standoff between Victoria and Ot- tawa on native land claim settlements, B.C. Native Affairs Minister Jack Weisgerber said Tuesday. “The Supreme Court may have to decide’? which government will pay the cost — estimated in the billions — of settling land claims, Weisgerber said after a meeting with The Van- couver Province’s editorial board. “There may have to be reference to the Supreme Court to untangle the federal-B.C. cost sharing.”” Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who wrapped up his two-day visit to Vancouver Tuesday, has said British Columbia must pay its share. But British Columbia says cash set- tlements for land claims are to be borne by Ottawa. And the province early morning By KEITH THIRKELL Special to the Castlegar News A Nelson man received only minor injuries last week when the car he was driving cartwheeled about six metres down an em- bankment and came to rest on its roof after he lost control of the vehicle while trying to avoid hit- A Nelson man’ 's jose took the worst of it in an encounter with a deer on Highway 6 in the Oct. 18. The man escaped with minor injuries. — CARROTS 2600. ccce 25.9979 — CENTRAL FRESH PRODUCE — APPLES seuzex 9764 4° B.C. GROWN. FANCY GRADE ¢] HONEYDEW MELONS COOKING ONIONS 3.08 | eee wn 82n 0° wants federal if land and resources have to be transferred as part of the land claims settlement. Weisgerber said Ottawa had refused for years to say what it expec- ted from British Columbia despite numerous requests. ““But as soon as the (B.C.) cabinet agreed to negotiate (with native ban- ds), Ottawa magically said we have to share costs and talked about parity,”” he said. Weisgerber and Premier Bill Van- der Zalm will meet with native Indians today to begin a series of discussions on a framework to settle land claims. “Before any talk of settlements we need to know what the settlements will look like,’” Weisgerber said. from front page Rockerbie acknowledged B.C. property taxes on rail lines are high by comparison to other provinces. But B.C. fuel taxes are the lowest of any western Province, a fact railway companies do not mention when complaining about property tax, he said. The tax issue is still under consideration, Rockerbie Meade said if the property tax was lowered, his com- pany could set up a system for Celgar that would be “*truck competitive.” His company’s setup would be much simpler than the one CP has told Ceigar it must install, Meade said. He said his company proposes a system that would cost about $3 million and would include a pit to dump the chips into and a conveyer system to lift the chips up to existing handling facilities. Celgar’s second impact assessment report says ‘‘all options’’ involving the movement of chips by rail would require the construction of a railcar dumper at the mill. H.A. Simons, the company that designed the plans for modernizing the mill, Prepared a conceptual plan and cost estimates for two railcar dumpers, one with a total cost of about 19 million and the other with a cost of about $30 million, the report says. Meade said he understands why Celgar plans to haul chips by truck. “**They look at numbers and chip trucks work,” he said. Celgar general manager Jim Browne said he ‘‘ad- mires’’ the amount of work Meads has done over the last few years in an attempt to get his Proposal for shipping chips off the ground. “‘He’s the kind of person we'd love to work with,” Browne said. But Celgar has no control over standards and regulations set for rail lines, he pointed out. LOSE ALL THE WEIGHT YOU WANT TO LOSE FOR ONLY Call today for a FREE no obligation consultation! 368-8555 1435 BAY AVE., TRAIL *Speciol offer does not include cost of exclusive Nurtri/System food ond maintenance program. New clients only. Olfer valid @toorticioatina centres SINTER $229” ee HONEY RED SEEDLESS CALIFORNIA GROWN No. 1 GRADE kg. $17), PRICES EFFECTIVE THURS. , OCT. 25 THROUGH SAT., OCT. 27/'90 Ceutral Foods pact beheld ad AWARD WINNING FOOD STORE Ave.. BUSINESS HOURS Thurs. & Fri 9a.m. to 9 p.m. SUNDAY 10 A.M. TO 6 P.M.