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MERRITT HERALD FREE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Earthquake shakes Merritt By Michael Potestio THE HERALD
reporter@merrittherald.com
A 2.6 magnitude earthquake shook Merritt Friday night at about 9:26 p.m. and residents around the city and the Nicola Valley could feel it. The Geological Survey of Canada confirmed the earthquake was located about 20 kilometres north of Merritt. There were no reports of damage, nor would any be expected from an earthquake below a magnitude of 5. Garry Rogers, an earthquake scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada in Victoria, said the small quake is the result of seismic activity under North America. He said the continent is drifting gradually
westward, rubbing up against the Pacific plate, creating an east-west squeezing effect, which occurs throughout North America. “It’s more accelerated in British Columbia, this east-west squeezing, that built up the mountains way, way in the past,” Rogers said. “But that east-west squeezing or ‘stress,’ if you like, is still in the crust today, and is the cause of earthquakes that we see in southern British Columbia.” He said there was nothing unusual about the earthquake and it was a typical one southern British Columbia experiences every year. He said small earthquakes like this one are typically only felt locally and occur in the Merritt area about once every five to seven years.
Merritt resident Jody John was outside her apartment smoking a cigarette when she felt the quake. Her initial reaction was to think the source of the shaking was her washing machine. When the earthquake hit, so too did the claims on social media of what the cause of the shaking could be. Various social media users said they heard a boom or some sort of explosion, including an unconfirmed report of a car exploding downtown. City of Merritt Fire Chief Dave Tomkinson told the Herald the department received no reports of an explosion Friday night. The closest call to an explosion they responded to was a report of people at
the Central Elementary School field lighting off fireworks. Tomkinson said there was no chance that was the cause of the shaking people felt and heard that night. Rogers said the closer a person is to the earthquake’s location, the more violent the shaking feels. Rogers said though there have never been any damaging earthquakes in the B.C. Interior, this province is still earthquake country. “We’ve never had a damaging earthquake (at least in historic time) in that region, but where there are little earthquakes, there can always be big ones, so it’s a reminder to everybody that British Columbia as a whole is earthquake This map from the Geological Survey of Canada shows the location of the earthquake as indicated by the star. Submitted country,” Rogers said.
Union files grievance over drug search at job site By Michael Potestio THE HERALD
reporter@merrittherald.com
Two separate instances of drugs on job sites hit area employers recently and in one case led to the filing of a formal grievance. On August 13 and 14, employees of contracted companies JV Drivers Installations Inc. and Fluor — who are working on the Highland Valley Copper mine expansion project — were surprised to find security handling drug detection dogs on the job site. They
searched the employees, their belongings and the construction site. JV Drivers said it took action upon receiving information regarding possible banned substances on the work site, JV Driver communications manager Boyd Mitchell told the Herald via email. “In light of this information, we were legally and morally obligated to act to ensure the continued safety of the workplace. All searches were conducted in the least obtrusive manner
possible,” Mitchell wrote in the email. The Thursday, Aug. 15 edition of Kamloops This Week reported that cocaine and marijuana were found in the search and some employees were sent home. Mitchell confirmed drugs were discovered but did not disclose which substances they were. “Through these searches, some banned substances were uncovered and disposed of by the RCMP. There have been no repercussions to our employees as a result,”
Mitchell said. Jim Oostenbrink, head of the Construction Allied Workers Union for B.C., which represents JV Drivers’ employees, said the union has filed a formal grievance with the company. He said the union was not made aware the search was taking place and is calling it illegal. Despite seeing media reports in which the company said they discovered drugs on the site, Oostenbrink said JV Drivers has not told him directly.
“We are proceeding with the grievance on the basis of an illegal search,” Oostenbrink said. He said the union is expecting a response from the company some time this week. Richard Boyce, a representative of the United Steelworkers Union 7619, which represents Highland Valley Copper employees of Teck, told the Herald he viewed the searches as a “witch hunt” and excessive. Boyce said Highland Valley Copper has a zero-
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tolerance policy on substance abuse taking place on their property, which the union and the company support, as well as a focus on getting workers help if they have substance abuse problems. “We also encourage people — if they think an individual is not fit for work and they show up there in the morning — to go to their supervisor and say something, or go to the individual first and say something,” Boyce said, noting “you don’t need a drug dog to do that.”
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