PRINCE RUPERT VOL. 8 NO. 33
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
FREE
Watson Island spilling oil into harbour
NO. 4 News
BY MARTINA PERRY PRINCE RUPERT / The Northern View
Justice for Justin warns of scam Page A3
Oil is leaking from Watson Island into the ocean. The City of Prince Rupert, the agency currently responsible for the site, the B.C. Ministry of Environment and supervisors of the former Skeena Pulp Mill have all confirmed, what they call, “a small leak” of Bunker C oil from a pipe at Watson Island. A Ministry of Environment spokesperson said one - Jack Mussallem to 1.5 litres of Bunker C has been leaking from the pipe into the ocean every day for at least six days and the ministry will be taking action “to stabilize, contain and remove the hazard”. Prince Rupert Mayor Jack Mussallem said last week his understanding was the leak was diesel, but noted diesel is a derivative of Bunker C. “They noticed there was a light sheen on the water. They checked, and had a spill of three litres of distillate. They noticed it was actually on the beach,” Mussallem said.
“It’s just a slight spill.”
Sports Teaming up at the His and Hers Page A7
Photo courtesy of the Prince Rupert Port Authority
The heavy load carrier, Zhen Hua 11, delivers the fourth crane to the Fairview Terminal on Saturday. The 244-metre-long, St. Vincent and Grenadines-flagged ship with a deadweight of 85,925 tonnes was escorted into the harbour by a B.C. coast pilot launch and the Prince Rupert Port Authority’s Charles Hays port patrol boat at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The crane will be the first major expansion at Fairview since it opened in September 2007, and comes as the terminal exceeded its initial design capacity of 500,000 TEUs in 2012. The crane will be placed alongside the three existing cranes, which arrived with much fanfare on Aug. 20, 2007.
Community Ending the cycle of violence Page A11
Worst sockeye season in three decades Fleet scared 2013 returns may only be a sign of things to come BY SHAUN THOMAS PRINCE RUPERT / The Northern View
Haida Gwaii Breaking ground for new hospital Page B1
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Joy Thorkelson of the United Fishermen and Allied Worker’s Union (UFAWU) is pulling no punches when it comes to discussing the 2013 commercial fishing season. “I’ve never seen it this bad, and I’ve been here for 30 years,” she said, adding she lost any sense of optimism for this year a month ago. “The average gillnetter fishing the North Coast has caught approximately 500 fish. Just 500. That doesn’t pay for the licence fee with the federal government, let alone the other fees that have been piled on this year, like the on-board monitor, and it doesn’t even cover the $300 fishermen have to pay Archipelago Marine for
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1823 Graham Ave $296,500
See WATSON on Page A2
“What does this mean for four years from now?” - Joy Thorkelson the log book.” With only an estimated 453,000 sockeye of the necessary 1.05 million making their way back into the Skeena River, Thorkelson said the few in the fleet able to afford the fuel have made their way south to the Bella Bella area. Still others are trying their luck in the Nass River with the hope of making some money.
“They might fish the Nass next week if there are still sockeye along with the pink salmon … but as the sockeye numbers dwindle, fewer boats are likely to go there. Right now the pink salmon catch is just covering the cost of fuel and any money being made is on the rare sockeye caught, so it doesn’t make sense to fish just to cover the cost of fuel,” she said. More than being the worst year in three decades, Thorkelson said it is also frightening the fleet. “The closure this year is the scariest yet. We have had closures before, but we have never had a closure where the returns were this low,” she said. “It’s scary because what does this mean for four years from now when the salmon from this year return to the system?”
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