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WEDNESDAY, January 30, 2013
NEWS BRIEFS Court report
For files appearing before the Fort St. James Provincial Court on Jan. 22, 2013. Teresa M. Charlie was sentenced to one day in jail and one year probation for assault. Wilfred Duncan was sentenced to seven days in jail for failure to comply with condition of undertaking or recognizance, 30 days in jail and nine months probation for assault, and 37 days in jail for another count of assault. Roxanne C. Lazarre was found guilty and given a conditional discharge for 12 months and 12 months probation with condition as well as ordered to provide a DNA sample for assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm. Lazarre was also found guilty of two counts of failure to comply with conditions of undertaking, and mischief and sentenced to one day in jail for each offence.
Hop on
Skiers, boarders and spectators could take a break from the runs to go for a horse-drawn sleigh ride courtesy of Silver Springs Country Recreation & Wellness at Murray Ridge as part of the Loggers Sports Day events going on Jan. 20. There was wood-chopping, log-rolling, nail driving, a tug-of-war, and three-legged races throughout the afternoon. Go to www.caledoniacourier.com for links to more photos. Murray Ridge Photo
Milligan passes final regulatory hurdle
Walk online The Ripples of the Past interpretive walk in Fort St. James is now online. Thanks to becoming an award-winning interpretive experience, the walk panels and full submission to Interpretation Canada are now viewable online. The online version describes the project and who was involved as well as showing images of each individual interpretive panel itself. Go to www.interpscan.ca/entry-submissionripples-past-interpretivewalk to check it out
VOL. 35 NO. 48 $1.34 inc. GST
Ruth Lloyd Caledonia Courier Thompson Creek Metals has received final approval of their fish habitat compensation plan from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). “It was the last major approval that we needed to get in order to operate the mine,” said Andrew Chewter, Environmental Superintendent for Mt. Milligan. The approval came on Jan. 14, 2013, and the approval specifically authorizes the mine to begin to put tailings materials into their storage facility which should begin in the third quarter of 2013. This was actually the approval for the second part of their fish habitat compensation plan. The plan for habitat compensation falls under two different regulations, the Fisheries Act and Metal Mine Effluent Regulation, both of which would go through the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Image of the completed Upper Rainbow Overwintering Pond, taken in July 2012, adjacent to Rainbow Creek, constructed in March – April of 2012. Image courtesy of Thompson Creek Metals
The first part of the habitat compensation plan looked at the habitat impacted by the mine but outside the tailings dam, and the second part which was just approved looked specifically at fish habitat inside the dam.
The policy for mine approvals requires a “no net loss” of fish habitat approach, which means the streams which will be impacted by the mine have to be studied, categorized and the fish species catalogued, in order for a plan
to be made to create or enhance equal or even greater amounts of habitat. The plans took two to three years to complete from data collection to the final documents, each over 200 pages. This included back and forth questions and responses from First Nations consultations the DFO does leading to revisions and adjustments. Chewter described the group working on the plans as “really diverse” from a variety of disciplines, including biology, environmental engineering and forestry. “The fish habitat is really really interesting work, and everyone in our department enjoys working on it,” he said. So far, an overwintering pond on upper Rainbow Creek has been built, and more work is planned this summer for mid-Rainbow Creek which will include the placement of large woody debris structures and boulder clusters. Continued on Page 3