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Volume 58 No. 24
PTI plan gets rubber stamp By a wide margin, Kitimat Council has approved zoning changes that will allow the PTI Group to build their proposed work lodge. With one councillor absent, Corinne Scott, the vote passed in favour 5-1, with Phil Germuth the sole remaining opponent to the changes. Mayor Joanne Monaghan said that her phone lit up in the days following from prospective businesses, who had been hesitant to commit to Kitimat before knowing whether PTI Group would get a pass. She didn’t disclose what those businesses were. Monaghan also said she was sure that PTI Group would have set up quickly in Terrace if Kitimat rejected the plan, and believed they would have done so in a more streamlined manner than was done in town. She had heard unofficially that Terrace would have accepted PTI with “open arms,” she said. She outlined the various benefits the project would have to the community, including easing the housing market, the approximately 200 local jobs, and the millions of dollars of infrastructure it would leave behind. “The tax dollars we get a year is over $200,000,” she said of the temporary workforce accommodation. “I think this is going to be good for our community,” she said. Director of Community Planning and Development Gwen Sewell explained there are bonus agreements which will kick in depending on the number of beds PTI opens. The lodge will have a base of 360 units. Upon adding an additional 240 units (up to 600 beds), a housing agreement will be made that requires all the units to be single-occupancy, rental only and with a minimum of 80 per cent available for construction workers and employees of businesses located in an industrial zone. The Bonus A amenity also calls for the $500 per bed to the District of Kitimat for future affordable housing projects. The Bonus B level also includes construction of pedestrian access trails through the land for those with mobility challenges. The final level, Bonus C, which applies for up to the maximum 2,104 bed configuration, will call into an effect a Good Neighbour Agreement, which means PTI will provide meeting spaces “to facilitate communication between PTI, area residents, District of Kitimat, Chamber of Commerce, RCMP, Northern Health and other interested groups, at no cost to the municipality.” Meanwhile, PTI Group will pay $300 per bed into the municipal reserve account to fund improvements to the sewage treatment plant, and the company will have to meet District specifications for water connections. Continued on page 2
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Young or old, the 2013 Relay for Life in Kitimat was great fun, and another successful fundraiser for cancer research. See their total and more photos on page 7. Jackie Rutsatz photo
Final hearings being held in Terrace Josh Massey Anti-pipeline activists will be on guard outside the final public hearings for the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Project, scheduled for June 17 in Terrace. Protesters are coming in from as far as Vancouver and Prince George to demonstrate outside the Best Western on Greig Ave. where the hearings are taking place, while inside the hotel lawyers from the province will present the B.C. government’s “no” decision on the project in its current form. Among the other 34 individuals and groups presenting for or against the project include nine First Nations, Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen and the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce. Enbridge is the first up and has two hours to present their final argument. The other presenters have an hour each, which means the hearings could last well over a week, according to National Energy Board spokesperson Kristen Higgens. Those arguing in favour of the project are looking to prove that Enbridge’s environmental checks and fiscal plan make the proposed 1,170 km twin bitumen and condensate pipeline safe and worthwhile for stakeholders along the route. The proposed pipeline would extend from the Alberta oil sands to a terminal near Kitimat on the B.C. coast with the bitumen then transported by tanker to processing facilities abroad.
The proposal has been met with heavy opposition along the way, with protests and anti-Enbridge campaigns staged throughout the review process, which has seen 1,200 oral statements made since it began in January 2012 and the participation of 215 intervenors – people or groups who submit written material and engage in formal debate. “Only a handful have presented in favour and thousands have spoken out against it,” said Mikael Jensen, who is organizing the upcoming protests, set for the day before and the first day of the hearing. The Joint Review Panel has until December 31 to present their decision to the federal government, at which point the cabinet will make the final call on whether to approve the project. The B.C. government submitted their written statement last month opposing the project in its current form, and will now follow that up with their oral component. Listed as “British Columbia, The Province of,” the province is placed fifth on the list of presenters with lawyers Elisabeth Graff and Christopher H. Jones making the final statements on the government’s behalf. The June 17 presentations are open to the public and will also be available through a webcast on the National Energy Board website. Continued on page 5
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Ten years on the water ... page 12