B e s t W i s h e s f o r a h a p p y, h e a l t h y 2 0 1 4 f r o m T h e J o u r n a l
Journal ASHCROFT t CACHE CREEK
Volume 120 No 52 PM # 400121123
The
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Serving Clinton, Spences Bridge, Lytton, Savona, Walhachin and surrounding areas Since 1895
www.ash-cache-journal.com
$1.30 includes GST
Special Delivery Ashcroft Elementary School collected food for the Food Bank during the school’s 12 Days of Giving food drive campaign. Ms. M. Marlow’s K/1 and Ms. C. Marlow’s 4/5 students delivered the food to the South Cariboo Elizabeth Fry office with the help of Fire Chief Brian Henderson. The students enjoyed cookies and hot chocolate at the Ashcroft Fire Hall after their food delivery.
May your holiday season be filled with peace and serenity, and may the New Year hold wonderful surprises. Season’s greetings from all of us at
7
78195 50011
6
Enbridge approved with conditions by Tom Fletcher, Black Press A federal environmental review panel has recommended Enbridge’s Northern Gateway heavy oil pipeline can proceed if 209 conditions on environmental protection are met. After 18 months of submissions from experts and the public, the National Energy Board Joint Review Panel concluded the benefits of a twin pipeline from northern Alberta to a proposed tanker facility at Kitimat outweigh the risks. Its two-volume report was released Thursday in Calgary. “The environmental, societal and economic burdens of a large oil spill, while unlikely and not permanent, would be significant,” the panel concluded in its report. “Through our conditions we require Northern Gateway to implement appropriate and effective spill prevention measures and spill response capabilities, so that the likelihood and consequences of a large spill would be minimized.” The panel said there would be significant effect on some populations of woodland caribou and grizzly bear, and uncertainty remains over the effectiveness of Enbridge’s plans to minimize the disruption the pipeline would cause. Conditions include protection plans for whales and other marine mammals, measures to protect caribou and other land animals and development of methods to track and deal with diluted bitumen spills. Federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver reiterated his position that “no energy project will be approved unless it is safe for Canadians and safe for the environment.” The federal cabinet must make a final decision on federal permits for the project by July 2014. B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak said approval by the federal panel meets one of its five conditions, but doesn’t change the province’s position against the pipeline until its other four are met. They include satisfying legal obligations to consult and accommodate aboriginal communities and developing “world leading” safety and spill response on land and at sea. “Now we have Alberta’s agreement for the five conditions, the federal government is talking about the importance of weighing the environment in the balance, and even Enbridge is talking about the importance of the environment in this equation,” Polak said.