Houston Today, August 27, 2014

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NEWS: Police Report

NEWS: Houston Fire Camp

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Council to lobby at UBCM By Jackie Lieuwen Houston Today

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A cement truck crashed into the ditch on Highway 118 seven kilometres from Highway 16 at 7:30 a.m. Aug. 18. RCMP Sgt. Stephen Rose says the driver caught the soft shoulder of the road and was pulled off the road. No one was injured and the vehicle recovery led to a partial road closure for several hours.

Houston council is meeting Premier Christy Clark, Minister of Forests Steve Thomson and other ministers to lobby for Houston projects. Mayor Bill Holmberg and Councillors Shane Brienen, Michalle Jolly, Dawn Potvin, Rick Lundrigan and Kyle Thomson head to Whistler September 22 to 26 for the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) Convention. Council agreed at their meeting last Tuesday that their top priority is meeting with Premier Christy Clark to lobby for help with upcoming infrastructure projects. The two major projects are the water

Council “not happy” about slow Competition Bureau ruling and government response to HFP closure

tower and Highway 16 project. Council will discuss Houston’s lack of 24/7 health care, the economic development and infrastructure plans, and forest policies. See UBCM on Page 3

Northern mines wait for tailings permits By Jackie Lieuwen Houston Today

The company developing the Morrison copper-gold mine near Smithers remains confident it can complete the project, despite a decision by the B.C. government to suspend its environmental assessment until an investigation into the Mount Polley mine dam breach is completed.

Pacific Booker Minerals “will comply with all the recommendations made by the independent engineering investigation and review panel and will construct and operate the Morrison mine in compliance with industry best practices, using proven technology and in full compliance with all permit requirements,” company director Erik Tornquist said in a statement.

Environment Minister Mary Polak and Energy and Mines Minister announced the suspension this week. It’s the second setback the province has handed to Pacific Booker, which won a court decision last December after its permit was refused by the B.C. government. Bennett said the Morrison tailings pond was one of the issues in the court case, and he and Polak

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decided it was in the best interests of the public and the mine proponent to wait. The Lake Babine First Nation intervened in the case, and its land claim as well as concerns about longterm effects on water quality in Morrison Lake were cited in the decision to withhold the mine permit. Three mine engineering experts have been given until Jan. 31 to report their

findings on the cause of the Aug. 4 tailings dam breach at Mount Polley, a similar openpit mine near Williams Lake. Mount Polley owner Imperial Metals is nearing completion of its Red Chris project near Iskut in northwest B.C. It has all provincial permits except for its tailings pond and the company has agreed to an independent review of its design and

construction before putting it into service. A group of Tahltan Nation elders blocked a road to the Red Chris project after the Mount Polley incident. “Red Chris should not be held up,” Bennett said. “There is a roadblock there now and the company is currently working around it, and also having I think some pretty fruitful discussions with

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the Tahltan Central Council. “But they’re proceeding. Their mine is almost built, and they are hopeful that they will be able to provide the independent information or verification that the tailings dam at Red Chris is designed and built properly, such that the Tahltan Central Council will be satisfied they have the insurance and the mine will be able to proceed.”

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