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Council approves demolition of dams Five-to-four decision includes reconstruction with capability for hydroelectricity production By ToBy Gorman The News BulleTiN
JENN McGARRIGLE/ThE NEws BuLLETIN
NDP incumbent Leonard Krog thanks campaign manager Joyce Scotton and supporters Tuesday evening after learning that Nanaimo constituency voters decided to return him to Victoria. His victory was bittersweet, however, given that he had hoped his party would form government.
Nanaimo voters send Krog to Victoria By Jenn mcGarriGle The News BulleTiN
The mood was a touch sombre in NDP incumbent Leonard Krog’s campaign headquarters Tuesday evening, even though he won his seat in the 40th B.C. general election. As the night wore on, and it became increasingly clear that the NDP was not going to form government as opinion polls had earlier suggested, the celebration of Krog’s successful bid to return to the Legislature could best be
described as restrained. The Liberals’ advances were greeted with grumblings from the dozens of supporters packed into the Old City Quarter office, while the NDP successes – especially Vancouver-Point Grey NDP candidate David Eby’s victory in the polls over B.C. Liberal Party leader Christy Clark – were applauded. “It’s a sad day for B.C. that people listened to Christy Clark,” said Fred Carroll, a retired steelworker who dates his support for the NDP back to the 1970s. “We’ll get lots of
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pipelines and all kinds of other goodies. I was just hoping for fairness for people, especially for working people.” Krog won his seat by a healthy margin of more than 1,700 votes, with 9,548 votes compared with 7,812 for Liberal candidate Walter Anderson, the second place contender. Green Party candidate Ian Gartshore came in third with 2,198 votes, Conservative candidate Bryce Crigger had 1,087 votes and independent Brunie Brunie received 225 votes. u See ‘RIDING’ /4
City council chose not to roll the dice with human life Monday night and voted to commence removal of the middle and lower Colliery dams immediately. But the same motion, approved 5-4, also requires steps to be taken for the rebuilding of both dams, including the roughing in of hydroelectric capacity in the lower dam. The decision came after final pleas from Nanaimo residents to keep the dams and the lakes, which they say are a vital social and environmental asset for the Harewood community, and that the risk to human life downstream should the dams fail is in such a small percentile that the risk is acceptable. Lorne Gale, an advocate to keep the dams intact, said structural integrity of the current dams suggests that in the event of an extreme seismic event, the dams might be one of the only structures remaining in Nanaimo. “Most of the buildings in Nanaimo would collapse if we experienced a devastating earthquake, but those dams will still be there,” said Gale. “In fact, the lakes could be used as part of our emergency preparedness. They would be an asset.” An estimated 1,800 people
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live below the dams in the Chase River floodplain, which prompted the provincial Dam Safety Branch to list the danger rating as extreme in the event of failure. The safety branch strongly advised city council to mitigate the risk as soon as possible. “The Dam Safety Branch is serious,” said Coun. Diane Brennan. “We can’t stand aside and say it probably won’t happen, because when you say it probably won’t, there is the possibility that it will.” The dams were constructed 100 years ago to direct water for the purpose of washing coal. The lakes and park are now a well-used recreation area for hiking, swimming and fishing. Roblyn Hunter said those opportunities will now be lost for people who use the park, and what will be left behind is also a serious safety issue. “It’s a terrible decision,” said Hunter. “Once the dams are gone there is a very good chance that we won’t get them back. City staff have been adamant they want them gone and there is no timeline to replace them ... and leaving the dams without water is terrible for the environment and if we really wanted to mitigate risk we don’t drain the lakes and leave this huge opportunity for someone to get injured.” u See ‘WORK’ /3
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