Wednesday, October 3, 2012
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Volume 92 - No. 40
Aerial fertilization underway in Lakes District and area. p3
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www.ldnews.net
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Fall Supper with a family fun evening and dance. p9
Pellet plant upgrades Ministry of Environment expects new emissions to meet standards
Lake Babine Nation demands inquiry into Furlong allegations WALTER STRONG
Walter Strong photo
The Pinnacle Pellet plant in Burns Lake on Sept. 30, 2012. emission control systems. to meet permitted levels. WALTER STRONG The ministry reports that The Pinnacle Pellet plant Pinnacle Pellet has hired a in Burns Lake has now com- full-time employee to manage pleted upgrades to its air qual- scrubber operation and mainity and emissions systems that tenance. This, as well as improved systems for ensuring began earlier this summer. Suntanu Dalal, communi- accurate and consistent blendcations officer from the Min- ing of raw materials, feed rates istry of Environment reports and temperatures will improve that the plant was inspected local air quality. The wet scrubber, which is by ministry staff on Sept. 18. 2012 and stack (emission) the last stage in the particulate tests were completed over two emissions control system, is days. Although the full results now fully operational. Lorne of those tests were not avail- Davies, Pinnacle Pellet’s enable at press time, the ministry vironmental officer, told the expects particulate emissions Lakes District News in July
Significant upgrades were completed over the summer to that the pioneering technology has been difficult to set up from the start. “We’ve put in the changes we planned on doing,” says Davies, “but we’re not necessarily satisfied yet.” According to Davies, although the system is currently working to control emissions it is not yet fully optimized. “The systems are running,” Davies explained, “but they’re still not running as good as we’d like them to. They’re costing us a lot more money than we’d like.”
A big expense in running the emissions system is the cost of the chemicals required to maintain clean system fluids. If the system gets dirty then pumps may fail. The pumps are in a sequence so that the failure of one pump doesn’t affect the operation of the whole, but a failed pump still needs to be replaced. Davies expected problems like this with a new system. “There’s growing pains with the system,” Davies said, “but we’re moving forward with it.”
Occupational First Aid Level 1.......Oct. 13, Nov. 20 or Nov. 24 Babysitter’s Training ......................Oct. 13 WHMIS...........................................Oct. 19 Canadian Firearms Safety ............Oct. 20
In an article published Sept. 27 in the Georgia Straight, a Vancouver weekly newspaper, John Furlong is accused of abusing eight former students of the old Immaculata School in Burns Lake. The Immaculata School was a Roman Catholic school in Burns Lake that ran from the 1950s until it was shut down in 1986. The Georgia Straight newspaper reports that he worked there as missionary and ran physical-education classes in 1969. In a statement issued Sept. 27 on his website, Furlong denies any wrongdoing, "As you are aware I have been accused of physical abuse and apparently within the last hour, sexual abuse. I want you to know I categorically deny absolutely any wrongdoing." He continued to say that the Georgia Straight newspaper made no attempt to contact him regarding the accusations. Furlong's statement also included a vague reference to an earlier extortion attempt regarding the accusations. His statement reads, "[O]n the very first occasion that this was brought to
my attention prior to the Olympics [2010] I was advised that for a payment it could be made to go away." At the time he reported this to the police. None of the accusations have been proven, and they do not stem from a police investigation. The Lake Babine Nation issued a press release, calling on the RCMP to conduct a thorough and timely investigation into allegations. “Lake Babine appreciates what John Furlong has done for British Columbia and Canada through the Vancouver 2010 Games, but at the same time, it strongly believes there are serious longstanding issues from the past that must be addressed.” These allegations come to light as the town of Burns Lake and the area’s six First Nations work to overcome a difficult year that began with the Babine Forest Products mill explosion in January of this year. Chief Wilf Adam of the Lake Babine Nation said that, “The sooner they get to the bottom of this the better.” The RCMP have issued a statement that they are investigating the allegations.
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Phone: 250.692.1700 • Fax: 250.692.1750 • Toll Free: 1.866.692.1943 545 Highway 16 West • PO Box 5000, Burns Lake, BC • V0J 1E0 Email: lksdist@cnc.bc.ca • Website: www.cnc.bc.ca/lakesdistrict