THURSDAY February 5, 2015 Vol. 30• No. 11 ••• $1.25 inc. G.S.T.
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Valley needs water filtration, CVRD hears Filtration deferral has saved district millions Scott Stanfield Record Staff
Filtration is needed for the Comox Valley’s water system, medical health officer Charmaine Enns told the CVRD water committee in a Tuesday presentation about turbidity and the recent
Full range of Family Day activities to enjoy ... A3
boil water advisory. The Dec. 11 to Jan. 27 advisory was preceded by another that ran from Oct. 27 to Nov. 5. In her 12 years serving the North Island, Enns said four water advisories have been issued. The first two were shorter in duration. “There was something uniquely different in December,” she said. “That was a sustained, elevated turbidity.” Turbidity, or murkiness, refers
to fine suspended particles picked up by water as it passes through streams and rivers in a watershed. Turbidity levels did not drop as rapidly as usual after a storm system hammered the Valley. The safety level is 1 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units). During the advisory, officials noted the lack of a filtration system. Island Health had granted the district ‘filtration deferral.’ But as time went by, Enns said
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it became evident the deferral needed to be rescinded. “We want to be fair, but have to balance with public health. Technically, you didn’t meet it (drinking water standards policy),” she said. Area C director Edwin Grieve said directors invested years of hard work to save millions of dollars through filtration deferral.
... see WATER ■ A3
Application for Raven coal mine re-submitted
Sewage commission meeting draws crowd ... A7
CEO confident shortfalls of original application have been addressed John Harding Black Press
Bald eagles of the Salish Sea ... B9
Woohoo! A long weekend coming up.
Gas prices “creeping” up? Someone needs to check the definition of “creeping”. One Courtenay station jacked the price of a litre of gas 16 cents overnight.
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Comox Valley RCMP are investigating a car fire in the early morning hours Saturday, Jan. 31 in the area of Piercy and 21st. Courtenay Fire Department was called out to the blaze at approximately 1:30 a.m. There was no one in the car at the time. It had been parked for a couple of hours when it went up in flames.
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Compliance Energy has re-submitted its application for a coal mine in the Fanny Bay area. In May of 2013, the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) rejected the company’s application for the proposed Raven coal mine, saying “the application does not contain the required information and (the EAO) has decided not to accept the application for detailed review.” Compliance CEO Stephen Ellis said Monday he’s confident about this application. “We believe we have answered the questions that were asked and have put in a good application,” said Ellis. The EAO now has 30 days to tell Compliance whether its application will be accepted.
... see COAL ■ A7 After the s it’s the se ale, rvice that coun ts!
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