‘Page 2A

’

I

INTHE I

Name: Marcy

Castlegar dislikes: Pollution
Best kept Castlegar secret: ?
Pet: Dog

Where you work: Access, Nelson, B.C.
What you do there: Receptionist
Castlegar likes: Zuckerberg Island Park

Vehicle: Datsun pickup
What would you rather be doing? Playing in the sun

..' Wednesday, March 27,1991

Wednesday, March 27, 1991

m Bridge
Continued from 1A |
social concems. The second would

tun from ferry ramp to ferry ramp.
This choice provides the best

have to narrow it down to one or
two ‘sites to focus: on’ hard’
engineering.” i

Planning and Program Engineer
Roger Pratt outlined the options

for social and

to imp the Brilliant

cost, is fair in regards to the
cavironment ard utilities and
services, but the 340 meter. Span is
the worst for engincering and
i Site 3, sli
upstream and -the longest ‘at 500
meters, is the most costly, only fair
for utilities and services, but scores
high marks for envi

intersection, He pointed out that, at
present, that 6,000 vehicles per day
travelled through the intersection '

during ' the summer months and
over the last five years there have
been very few accidents and no
fatalities,

“At the present -time,. it’s

and
social impact and ense ‘of
construction and engineering. Site
four, begi Bi

Pp very well,” be noted..
He also estimated that as much

as 50 per cent of the traffic using .
the i

ig Rd.

at Frances St.and spanning 275

meters, scored three fairs‘\— for

engineering and construction, and
i social

and

and two bests in the area of cost
and utilities and services. Site 5,
marked best for. utilities and
services, and fair on the other
criteria. The 305 meter span would
provide truck access to the pulp
mill prior to the railway tracks
with other traffic going over the
tracks to Arrow Lakes Drive,

“We have done an evaluation
and our preferred option is Site 3,”
said Don Barcham the ministry's
R 1 Manager of Planning,
“But no hard engineering has gone
into this. It's design work only.
We've done no drilling, put.no
boats or bouys in the water. We

now would use the
bridge once it was in place and
that, because of space limitations,
there aren’t a lot of options, The
B1 option that would curve just
south of Verigin’s Tomb was
virtually, all within existing
Ministry of Highways right-of-way
and at least 100 feet from the
tomb, he stressed.

Glade resident Bruce Campbell
who stated he travelled through the
intersection every moming on his

way to the college described it as *

“horrendous. It’s only by the Grace
of God there have been no
fatalities. There is the potential
there for a really bad accident. Not
only a single vehicle but a multiple .
vehicle accident. People trying to
get from Brilliant to Highway 3A,
turning left between 7:30 and 8

“\am;\are backed up way under the
ridge." :

But it was the proposed bridge
that stirred the most feclings,
Dave’ Sylvest, who lives in‘the
First Street area strenuously
“opposed Site 1 and came with a

petition bearing 85 names, which .

grew to 86 before he got it to the
head table, to support his position.

, His-neighbor, Frank Harvey, stated
be had lived in his home on First
Street since January of 1961, and,
“T have not the slightest interest in
Site 1. My favorite is 2 or 3. They
Say you may get a new house. I
have not the slightest interest in a
new house. I prefer to stay where I
am at my age.” x

However, RDCK Area J
Director Ken Wyllie, took over the
meeting for a short time and stated
that his. “advisory planning
committee” felt a site in close
proximity to the railway bridge
was preferable. He did, however,
Suggest that the bridge be skewed
(slanted) up river so that it did not
impact so heavily in a residential
area,

that the bridge was for Castlegar.
“The best thing for Robson,” he
suggested, “is just to build a little
bridge. Let the trucks go through
Castlegar. If the City stops truck
traffic, it will funnel th

‘A Robson resident suggested -

ea ik

Another, Robson *

The Castlegar Sun

Westar up against

By NANCY LINGLEY

echoed those sentiments asking
that traffic be gotten off the
Robson ‘side as soon‘as possible
and alluded to the pedestrian
traffic, much of which was
children, and included bikes and
horses,

Well thought-out questioning of
the panel by another. Robson
resident established that. traffic
from a proposed co-generation
plant had not been taken into
consideration; the bridge would
have handicap (wheelchair) access
as per Ministry policy; no studies
on. noise levels.or vibration
impacts had been done; and the
Brilliant intersection would have'a
minimum of 1-1/2 meters of paved
shoulders with an addition 1/2
meter of unpaved shoulder on each
side, as per Ministry standards.

Ministry staff hopes to narrow
down the choices to one or two
within two weeks,

“Then we'll start preliminary
engineering work on those one or
two sites and see what happens

after that,” said Barcham. “If -

there's a clearcut decision based on
engineering, we'll go with that
‘decision. If there's no clearcut
decision, we'll probably go back to
the public,

“The regional group will then
ake dati

: Robson. We like Robson the way! it
is.”

m. to the
Minister and the Minister makes
the ultimate decision.” :

& Normal

Continued from 1A

under the provincial Waste
Management Act and Simons with
three counts under the same act.
Both Simons and Celgar were
charged with an additional count
under the federal Fisheries Act.
The i fine under the

Waste Management Act $1 million
for each count, and the alleged

» federal Fisheries Act violations

could cost up to $5,000 each.

Although the alleged incident
took place almost one year ago,
charges were no laid until March
1§ of this year,

“Environmental investigations
take a considerable amount of
time,” explained Wayne Campbell,
supervisor of district operations
with the Castlegar Environmental

| Haul

Continued from 1A

develop the foreshore of the
Columbia River to give added area
for the contractors to lay out
equipment and supplies explained
Card.

“And to provide camp area,” he
added. “The camp (construction
camp) is virtually out in the Tiver,”

Hample is pleased with the way
the work is progressing.

“We've spoken with the
company and they’re still meeting

their daily targets of hauling 3,000
cubic “meters” per day,” said
:Hample.’““At this pointjanyway, it
“appears to us we're nbt having any
major problem with the street, so
we're satisfied with what they're
doing.” *

Unit. “ There were
two different companies involved
and that amount of time was not
abnormal. for a major
investigation.”

The first court appearance on all
charges is scheduled for April 15,
in provincial court in Castlegar.

On the other side of the coin;
Celgar was praised by West

Kootenay Power for comp

of i WKP,

a
project that resulted in the largest
single energy savings since WKP
launched its Power Sense program
18 months ago.

The net energy savings of the
Project, which saw 77 incandescent
and 34 mercury vapour lights
replaced with high pressure
sodium floodlights, was 161,622
kWh. per year — enough power to
supply 12 average single-family
homes for an entire year and every
year hereafter. Celgar spent
$71,590 to re-lamp the steam plant
and received a rebate of $9,225

- from WKP. Both the energy saving
and'the rebate are the largest for'a
single project since Power Sense
was initiated in 1989.

Stu McKay, senior vice-

commended his company’s largest

industrial customer for its

commitment to energy
and ii

awareness,

“When our customers, like
Celgar, help us conserve, the
energy saved is available to supply
new customer growth rather than
build generation and that makes
sense for us, for our customers,
and for the environment,” said
McKay.

The success of the re-lamping
Project has led to other nergy-
related negotiations ween
Celgar and West Kootenay Power,
including what could be the largest
energy efficient motor program in
Canada.

@ Premier

The Premier had time
above, talk to the local

Continued from 1A

“I can’t find one jurisdiction in
the world with legislation of this
kind,” he said of the Taxpayer
Protection Act. “There’s probably
no more than a handful of
Politicians that would dare do such
a thing. We now have a piece of
legislation that is not only a model
for the country, but beyond.

“During the term of five years,

total budgeting must come to a -

balance. All tax rates are frozen
for three years‘ with the
opportunity to review at the end of
three years. That’s'a real attraction
to industry. Industry has to have
the ability to know where it will be
three to five vezrs from now.”

B.C., said its Premier, is being
taken advantage of by Canada,

“We have the best free
enterprise system in the world,”
said Vander Zalm. “But there is
still a real problem in the country
when sometimes B.C. is used, and
even a little bit abused, to fill the
demands of other parts of the
country. It’s not fair if we manage
better that we should be penalized
for that. And they often penalize
‘us for that.” i

The. Premier also sympathized
with those with GST woes.

“It’s tough to be in business
these days,” he said. “The GST is
not blended in with the sales tax.
There’s a move afoot that we
should somehow blend the two in

+ the hopes that we can somehow

bring it down by blending them. I
‘don’t think the difference in the
total amount would be that great.
It’s complex, it would not bring it

, down dramatically. It would

-~” ‘simplify the process. It would take

‘!CAnumber of Provinces together on:

two years to do it if we start today.
Quebec 'is doing it and they
foresee it coming into Place in late
+1992, early 1993. It’s not an easy

Process," 5)
~ “I guess for the longest time we
thought we could beat the Feds at
their: GST, but that hasn't
happened. So we'll need to assess
that a little bit later on. This is still
in a court process, but just what
the impact, or if it will have an
impact, I can't say. Bur there's a

that.”
Throughout the day, it seemed
as if the Premier's had left at least
most of his problems at the Coast.
“It was a great day,” he said as
he headed out to the airport as dusk
began to settle in. “I enjoyed it.
People are wonderful. The

Kootenays have been doing pretty -

well. As a matter of fact, I’m
i no one is inis

_ talking about Cominco, and water
taxes, and the likes, I'll have a feel
for it first hand because I've been

Te :

“I walked through a hall with

hundreds of people at lunch today
and I actually sought complaints, I
said, ‘there's got to be somebody

with a complaint.’ Nobody.

complained. Everybody is very
upbeat. No wonder the Kootenays
are doing very well, you've got all
these upbeat people. It’s great.
“I’m impressed with the mood.
T think generally there’s a feeling

of optimism which is great during ~

times like this. I’m pleased to see a
ber of i j

Proj

going.

“When I go back to the cabinet
table on Wednesday and they’re
talking about things like Celgar,
they’re talking about
environmental issues, and they’re

eae f
sre usta

tat ND Ita

H gi.
LN ted

there and that’s what it’s all about.
“All-in-all I thought it was a

good upbeat day.”

SUN STAFF PHQTO/ Nancy Ungley

SRR eA

‘Sun Editor,

There's a good chance that a
hoped-for Castlsgar co-generation
plant may get a h ded

ing,” said Jim McLaren, Regional

Director of Environmental Protec-

ton. “As the Ministry of the Envi-
ronment, we carried on lengthy
discussions with Celgar over the
years on cl p. Then in 1988, it

boost from the provincial govem-
meat. fay
“The government can be an
influence, obviously we have been
an influence because initially there
“was never that much enthusiasm
for co-generation,” said Premier
Bill Vander Zalm when he was in
town Monday, “I think Larry Bell
(former CEO for B.C, Hydro, now
CEO at Westar) was a real propo-
nent of this and.was encouraged
: ad B

became obvious plans to upgrade
would not be successful. They
could shut down or go into a new
recovery boiler — and as a result
become virtually energy self-suffi-
cient. Westar always relied on the
neighboring pulp mill to burn their
woodwaste. We put Westar on
notice that the pulp mill would
either clean up or shut down. Wes-
tar was out of luck cither way.”
McLaren noted that it wasn’t
ical for Westar to simply

by g
has now become a very popular
thing, much in demand, and we
encourage it, Particularly for
waste products. So, even though
perhaps often times it could be
that electricity might be purchased
or produced more cheaply in some
other way, co-generation should
be given the edge, especially if
there's an envi!

advan- °

switch over and build the classic
old-fashioned teepee bumer.
“There was already an air pol-
lution problem in Castlegar with
the pulp mill,” he said. “We didn't
want to trade an odor problem for
a smoke problem. We didn't want
a smoking bumer so we amended:
their waste management permit in
De ber of 1988 to require Wes-

tage. So, yes, that’s a real possibil-
ity. I already spoke with the
people at Celgar today as to how it
is they view that and I think
they’re similarly looking at it, but
I think Westar would be far more
interested still.”

. Westar is most definitely inter-
ested and has, in fact signed a let-
ter of intent committing the mill’s
‘wastewood to NW Energy Corpo-
ration of Vancouver, the firm that
begins construction of a $135 mil-
lion ‘co-generation plant in
Williams Lake, B.C., next month,
That plant will incorporate many
of the proven design features of
the Kettle Falls station which is
owned an operated by the Wash-
ington Power Company, one of the
three parent companies of NW
Energy. Several representatives of
NW Energy visited Castlegar on
Mar. 14 when they spoke with the
Ministry of the Environment in
Nelson, Mayor Audrey Moore,
and Westar mill manager Roy
Helmkey and wood products co-
ordinator Rob Parisotto.

“Basically we asked what
would be next in the development
Proposal for a co-generating facili-
ty in the Castlegar area,” said
Parisotto. “What we at Westar
want from NW Energy is the
‘depth of their commitment. We
reiterated we are working against
a deadline and the time to move is
now.”

That deadline has been
imposed on Westar by the Min-
istry of the Environment.

“The key, obviously, is that the
pulp mill expansion is proceed-

tar to have energy recovery from
their woodwaste. The immediate
effect of that amendment was
nothing. They already sent their
woodwaste to the pulp mill to gen-
erate steam.”

Now, however, that scenario
has changed. Upon completion of
the modemization and expansion
project Celgar will no.longer
Tequire Westar’s woodwaste.

“There has been quite a bit of

discussion between the Ministry of
the Environment and the sawmill
of the options. We kept going back
to a plant like the one in Kettle
Falls, Washington,” said McLaren.
“We kept reminding the sawmill it
was only a matter of time before
they were in trouble. The sooner
they got going the better.’As'a
result, they selected NW Energy as
the company they wanted to deal
with.” 1

The project would not only
benefit Westar said McLaren, but
also the Kalesnikoff sawmill in
Thrums, Atco in Beaver:Valley,
Slocan Forest Products, and some
mills around Salmo.

“Atco currently has a contract
to haul to Kettle Falls,” said
McLaren. “But that's up. for
renewal in the early 1990s, These

- mills share a common problem. A
woodwaste to energy plant to
serve the area would give a lot of
benefits,” :

The ministry is still encourag-

ing NW Energy to get on with the -

Project said McLaren, but there is
aproblem.
“One of the stumbling blocks is

somebody has to buy the resulting:

power,” he explained. “There is
some dilemma as this province is
fairly energy rich.”

“B.C. Hydro d that

deadline

tomers, You can’t just say ‘let’s
oo it’, you have to get people to do
It.

“Without a Contract, there's no
tush to build, We're working with
hydro and different levels of gov-
emment to see about a contract.
But if we got a contract today, it
would probably be a year before
we could start construction.

OUTLOOK: The forecast for
Wednesday; Sunny with a few

WEATHER

afternoon clouds. Highs will range
from 7 to 9. Chance of precipita-
tion is 10%. The outlook for Thurs- t
day calls for increasing afternoon clouds with a possibill-
ty of a shower. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Fridays
forecast was not available from the weather office.

‘There's permits and financing
arrange. And we need community
support.

,_ “The Kettle Falls plant has been
in operation for eight years, since
June of 1984. There's nothing at
all unproven about the technolo-
py.”

13.9/ 18
Rain

Steve Davis, Mai of Pro-
ject Development for NW Energy
added that community support for
the projects has been fantastic.
But, there is still that contract to be

“Basically, Hydro does not nec-
essarily need to look for outside
energy until 1994,” said Parisotto.
“That would then place the focus
towards environmental clean-up
Opportunity as opposed to energy
needs,” :

“We have advised Westar that
the pulp mill has advised us that
they will be in by mid

3.9 cm.

Number of
Hours

17.9

Sunshine:

A LOOK BACK AT THE PAST WEEK:
Temperature: Max/Date . Min/Date

5.3 /18

Snow

Trace

Mean Normal

Mean

48 42

Total Normal

“Total
3.9.cm. 13.1 cm.

Normal Number
of Hours .

34.3

and numerous grass fires are
Temp

1993,” said McLaren. “That is a°

Power Smart would alleviate the
need for new resource,” said Bob
Henriques, vice-president of NW
Energy. “But that requires a

behavioral change from their cus- :

deadline for West-
ar to have something in place to
deal with the woodwaste. There’s
not enough room in the valley to

stockpile it.”

The gang from NW Energy, left to right, Bob Henriques, vice-president; Mike Gonnel-
la, project development manager; Dick Johnson, project development manager; Steve
Davis, Manager, project development.

‘SUN STAFF PHOTO / Harcy Ungley

Vander Zalm lights up Ootischenia

! By FRANK ISERNIA
* Sun staff writer

surprised,”
“On behalf of the Ootischenia
Fire D I'd like to thank

Officials of the Ootischenia
Volunteer Fire Department
expressed excitement last Mon-
day aftemoon when Premier Bill
Vander Zalm presented Assistant
Fire Chief, Bill Hadikin with a
Go BC grant cheque for $90,000
to assist them with the construc-
tion of their new fire hall. The
presentation was made during 4
ceremony held in Vander Zalm’s
honor at City Council Chambers.

“We were caught completely
off guard,” said Ootischenia Fire
Commission chairman, Larry
Bosse. "We had no idea that the
grant had been approved. It’s
great. Regional District of
Columbia Kootenay was just as

RDCK Director of Area J, Ken
‘Wyllie who was instrumental on
taking this to referendum, and to
everyone who contributed to our

of Cotischenia. The good news is
that the Fire Department is on full
emergency response. But the bad
news is that they are not fully
equipped to handle a major fire at
his time, The department does not
have a home. Officially RDCK

‘izes the as being

goal. I want to
the Fire Commissioner for his sup-
Port and efforts,” he added,

The new Fire Hall is expected
to be completed sometime in June
or early July and will boast the
first drive through entrance of it's
kind in the area. The purpose of
this drive through is to reduce the

a i i fire d

not yet in service,” said Bosse.
“There are 10-12 volunteers
with pagers and about four carry-
ing portable radios. Ootischenia
and Robson are sharing the same
radio frequency at this time.”
Bosse stated that within a two-
week span, the emergency number

at this point, and if notified they
would be capable of a somewhat
limited response due to lack of
equipment.

“We have the basic essentials,
but our water tanker is out of ser-
vice due to painting,” he ex-

Fn ”

tisk of i igasa
result of fire trucks backing into
their stalls. As far as the current
Status of the Fire Department is
concemed, there is some good
news and bad news for residents

to Bosse,
i are

will be op but that is of
little comfort considering that the
department doesn’t have enough

REMARKS: A rather dull week considering the first of
spring arrived at 7:02 pm on the 20th. Skiing is report-
ed as being good; the trees are slowly coming into bud

s were about normal for the week while pre-
cipitation and sunshine values were well below normal.
Ed. Note: 14 cm. of snow fell at Red Mtn. on Monday.

Forecast provided by
The South - East Interior Weather Office
at Castlegar, B.C.

showing up in the valley.

Council briefs

By FRANK ISERNIA

ly as it

Sun staff writer

Castlegar City Auditor, Mike
Berg, in his 1990 financial report,
to Castlegar City Council, told a
non-quorum of Council members
that the City was in good shape
financially. .

He said the General Operating
Fund had a surplus of $3500, the
Water Utility fund had an operat-

“ing surplus of $21,800, the Sewer

North had an operating surplus of
$32,700, and the Sewer South had
an operating deficit of $23,800:

Council beard that the total sur-
plus for this past year stood at
$351,000. He confirmed that the
total in 1989 was $472,000 and
$424,000 in 1988.

Berg informed Council that
the total reserve balances at the
end of 1990 was $287,000 as
compared to $371,000 at the end
of 1989, and $342,00 for 1988. He
explained that the reserve bal-
ances are funds that had been set

as
should have been, and as a result,
his firm could not satisfy them-
selves as to the amount of inven-
tory the city had on hand at the
end of the year.

“In our opinion, except for the
effective adjustments, if any,
which we might have determined
to be necessary had we been able
to confirm the inventory, these
financial statements present fairly
in all material respects the finan-
cial position of the City as of
December 31 of 1990, and the
results of its operations for the
year then ended.”

As a result of a memorandum
presented to Council by Fire
Chief Bob Mann regarding the
Derailment story appearing in last
Wednesday”s Castlegar Sun,
Mayor Moore suggested that
council seek a meeting with
Superintendent of CPR, Tom
Brown, at the earliest convenience
to discuss the situation along with
other matters of concern.

Id Chernoff pli

aside for current operati for
items which have been budgeted
for, but have not yet been expend-
ed.

“That's basically a summary of
the operations of the City,” he
confirmed.

Berg explained that this year,
@ new system which was put into
Place near the end of 1989 for
costing out inventory, was not

mented Mann’s report by stating
that it was very precise and infor-
mative.

Mayor Moore said that Coun-
cil is certainly very concerned
about the lack of rail and truck
access routes through Castlegar,
and of their potential conse-
quences.

to efi ly battle a

full blaze fire.
“ The reason we lack equip-
ment.” said Bosse, “Is that we
don’t have'enough funds because

Fender bender

of the small number of voli
received.”

not fully operational at this time.
“The icati

“We are hoping to reach the
i i ion tar-

are in
place, and we do have an emer-
gency number at this time, but is

One fire hall coming (going) up. Left to right, Larry Bosse,
: Fire Commission; Provincial Secretary Howard’ Dirks; Bill’ Hadikin, acting fire chief,
Premier Bill Vander Zalm; Social Credit candidate Walt Siemens.

j

chairman of the Ootischenia

get figure of $27,000. Our current
balance is sitting at $1500, but we
desperately need to reach our goal
in‘order to be able to purchase
critically needed equipment,” he
admitted. :

Bosse said that the Ootischenia
firemen will be holding a door-to-
door drive in an effort to meet
their target goal. {

Please Recycle
the Sun

FIND .IT.IN THE
CLASSIFIEDS °

‘SUN STAFF teorrta

«

a

swerved to avoid a branch
trol of her vehilce colliding

.door sedan.

No one was injured and no charges were laid when
‘the 18-year-old female youth driving this vehicle

Kinnaird Bridge on Highway. 3: last Sunday after-
noon at 2 p.m., coming to rest, against the. railing.
Over $1,000 in damage was done to the 1987 four-

on the road and lost con-
with the right curb’ on the

. SUN STAFF PHOTO / Brendan Halper °