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Volume 57 No. 42
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Sentinel
Northern
www.northernsentinel.com
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
1.34 INCLUDES TAX
$
Rio Tinto Alcan’s Hospital Beach and boat launch (above), as well as the trail to Moore Creek Falls have been re-opened to the public. Traffic improvements to the modernization work site have minimized the safety concerns which caused RTA to close the facilities to begin with.
RTA opens up the beach Cameron Orr Hospital Beach and Moore Creek access have been re-opened, as Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA) have made adjustments to their traffic systems around the modernization construction site. The District of Kitimat and RTA made a joint announcement regarding the beach’s re-opening in an ad in the Northern Sentinel on Oct. 10. Communication and External Relations Manager for RTA Colleen Nyce is aware that the season to take advantage of the beach and its boat ramp is coming to a close, however the work to mitigate safety risks to the public have been ongoing over the summer. “We didn’t just open the beach because people in the community asked us,” she explained. “The reason why it was closed was because there was a public safety risk.” She did say that community feedback and discussions with the District of Kitimat were, however, certainly a big reason why the beach was re-opened.
In the announcement last week, it was said that the changes to work site traffic included re-routing rock trucks, building a new bridge over Anderson Creek, and will include the eventual installation of traffic lights near the Construction Village. An extra construction road from the former Eurocan Haul Road has also been built. “All these things will reduce the risk to public safety,” said Nyce. RTA does reserve the right to close the beach again if they feel safety is a concern, but Nyce said that such closures would be temporary. “This is a mega project down here. It is a $3 billion-plus project... we need to make sure we’re a safe project,” she said. Nyce said that RTA and the District of Kitimat have been having very productive meetings over the past six months, and noted that their last meeting before re-opening the beach was particularly productive and cooperative. “I think that’s the absolute best way that we should be moving for-
ward, and that’s together,” she said. “We’re really hoping that we can continue to work that way.” Nyce was asked about a discussion from Kitimat Council where Phil Germuth moved to ask RTA to give Hospital Beach to the District for its 60th anniversary, but she said that has never been a topic of conversation between the District and the company. (Germuth’s motion did not pass at council.) She said that the land is in RTA’s strategic footprint and that it will “never be sold.” She pointed out that on the 40th anniversary of what was then just Alcan, the company did dedicate the beach to the community. “The best we could do is dedicate it to the people of Kitimat and maintain it annually.” Mayor Joanne Monaghan is naturally quite excited over the announcement, calling it a victory for the community. She said that she and the council are very thankful to RTA for their efforts in bringing Hospital Beach’s re-opening to fruition.
The view from a search and rescue helicopter over Mount Elizabeth last week. Submitted photo.
Called in the chopper Kitimat Search and Rescue (SAR) members were called away from the organization’s largest annual fundraiser to do what it is they do best. On Oct. 6, the B.C. Ambulance Service called in SAR for a reported distressed 50-year-old male hiker on Mount Elizabeth. Using a helicopter, two SAR members reached the hiker and determined that additional support would be needed to stabilize and transport the patient to the helicopter, which couldn’t land precisely where he was. Two Kitimat paramedics were called in from the Kitimat Fire Department but by the time the patient was moved to the helicopter it was too dark to take off. Continued on page 2
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