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Tuesday July 3, 2012 Serving Surrey and North h Delta www.surreyleader.com w w. w. w.surrey y leader.com le
Region kicks off search for waste-toenergy sites Metro ‘crazy’ to name locations ahead of technology, says Marvin Hunt by Jeff Nagel
A new kind of
METRO VANCOUVER is launching
an informal 90-day process to identify potential sites and operators of a new waste-to-energy (WTE) plant to consume more of the region’s garbage. But some directors fear it’s a recipe for panic in their cities if prospective sites are named this fall because Metro won’t yet know what technology – incineration or some alternate method – will be used. There’s been past talk among either proponents or host cities of building a new plant at sites in Surrey, New Westminster, Burnaby, or the Tsawwassen First Nation lands. There are also proposals for out-ofregion sites, including Gold River on the west coast of Vancouver Island, which would add to garbage transport costs but ease concerns in the Fraser Valley, where residents fear an incinerator will worsen air pollution. Surrey Coun. Marvin Hunt Marvin Hunt said it’s “crazy” for Metro to identify locations without being able to tell fearful neighbours what might actually be built there, adding some WTE systems may be much less contentious than others. “That is the best possible way to stir up a community in ignorance and fear and they have every right to that,” Hunt told the Metro board Friday. See METRO / Page 3
horsepower BOAZ JOSEPH / THE LEADER
Jonathan Pichette, 17, hugs horse Rio at the end of a six-week therapeutic horse program at a Langley farm. The program is part of Surrey Memorial Hospital’s Adolescent Day Treatment Program for youth aged 13-18 who are coping with psychiatric challenges.
Teens struggling with mental health issues benefit from equine healing by Monique Tamminga
F
or teens living with mental illness, the world can feel out of control at times. At other times, it can be frustrating and isolating. But a new program that pairs teens with rescue horses gives youth with mental health issues a new sense of empowerment – and a bond with some special “gentle giants.” Last month, Rachelle Sall, 15, and Jonathan Pichette, 17, graduated from a sixweek program at Langley’s Healing Heart Sanctuary, where the two teens learned to lead horses. “I’ve learned a lot about myself. I really learned how to control my emotions,” said Pichette. “When I had to pick up a horse’s hoof
I was really anxious about it, but I had to control my fear. I told the horse that I was anxious but I will do this.” He explained that the “more you accept your emotions, the more willing the horse is to work with you.” Later, he showed how he calmed Rio by putting his hand where the horse’s heart is and putting a hand on his own heart at the same time. Breathing deep breaths through the belly, a horse will sync up his breathing with the human and soon Rio’s head lowered, his eyelids drooped, and his ears came forward. Pichette had relaxed the horse. The Surrey teen has found the program so rewarding that he began volunteering at the Aldergrove horse ranch. Linda-Ann Bowling, Healing Heart
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Sanctuary owner and facilitator of the therapeutic horse program she calls “Youth with a Purpose … a New Kind of Horsepower,” said horses are highly intuitive and react to the energy people give off. “Horses are sensitive animals and respond to people’s emotions, moods, and non-verbal language,” said Bowling. “Through their work with the horses, youth learn healthy boundaries, responsibility, assertiveness and a variety of ways of interacting more positively with others.” The youth don’t actually ride the rescue horses, but form a leadership role with the large animals, bonding with them by grooming them and taking them through obstacle courses. See BONDING / Page 5
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