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VOL. 27 NO. 6
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Assessment work lacking: report By ANNA KILLEN A NEW auditor general report that addresses how the province is managing the environmental assessments of proposed natural resources projects – and uses the Skeena region as its focus area – says the government has a lot more work to do when it comes to monitoring and managing the cumulative effects of those projects. Auditor general Carol Bellringer's May 26 report concludes that while the government has taken steps to improve and clarify parts of the environmental assessment process, plans to look at the com-
bined effects and interactions of development, not just each project in isolation, have too long of a timeline for implementation and fuzzy details. “The [forests and lands and natural resources] ministry is not effectively considering or addressing cumulative effects in its decision making, as demonstrated by recent activity in the Skeena Region of northwest B.C.,” reads the report. It concludes that the government hasn't given clear a clear directive to the ministry on how cumulative effects monitoring fits into natural resource decisions, and that while the government is improving the
way it manages cumulative effects management “government has not resolved how it will use the framework to make and coordinate decisions across ministries.” To study the cumulative effects of development means not just looking at each project through the lens of its industry's regulations, but through a broadened scope which considers several projects and the surrounding environment, and how they might interact to cause environmental harm in the future. Skeena NDP MLA Robin Austin said he thinks there has been progress with regards to the environmental assessment process,
but “there's still some significant progress to be made, especially in addressing cumulative impacts, which is of interest locally.” Understanding and mitigating the cumulative effects of concentrated industry in the region “is really at the heart of what people up north are saying. It's not a question of what one LNG plant will do to the airshed, it's what would happen if there is multiple – on top of the fact that we've got the doubling of capacity at the Alcan smelter,” said Austin. Studying the cumulative effects of the concentration of industrial development in a small area like
this is a relatively new thing for the environmental assessment office, he said, and the process needs more resources. “I don't think there's enough staff on the ground to do the kind of science and the kind of work that's necessary,” he said. “It's about the government recognizing from this report – hopefully – that more resources have to be put in and more science has to be done so we can truly understand... At the end of the day, for those of us who live in the northwest, we want to have confidence in the EA process.”
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City officials visit China By JOSH MASSEY TERRACE CITY officials were in China last week on a short notice trip to brief officials from the Qinhangdao Economic and Technological Development Zone on city permitting details for the land it purchased last year at the Skeena Industrial Development Park. The civil engineering company All North has been doing preliminary planning work preparing infrastructure for an alfalfa protein extraction plant, the first of several planned developments on the 1,200 acre section of land purchased by the Chinese interests for $12 million last year. “We flew to Beijing on May 24 and drove directly to Qinhuangdao,” said city chief administrative officer Heather Avison last week who was accompanied by city director of development services David Block. Block and Avison are in China in a support capacity alongside the All North engineering team, which includes John Murray from Kelowna, Christina Cameron from Phoenix, Roger Lin from Calgary and Kory Yamashita from Terrace. “All North has been hired by QETDZ/Taisheng to do this work and they want the city at the table to provide information on various bylaw requirements that need to be followed,” said Avison. The trip was not budgeted for in the recently passed financial plan and has not been mentioned at recent council meetings. It is the third trip by the city to China related to the development since 2013, and Avison said they knew a planning trip was necessary in 2015, but not exactly when.
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CECILE FAVRON PHOTO
■■ RELAY FOR LIFE CANCER SURVIVORS Elaine Barton and Donavin White walk the first lap at the 2015 Relay for Life on the Skeena Middle School track. The 12-hour relay is one of over 400 annual fundraising events held across Canada for the Canadian Cancer Society. The first lap of the relay is reserved for the cancer survivors and their “caregivers.”
Art in the fam
Lost body found
Peak season
Amanda Stella stands out in a family with several creative talents \COMMUNITY A10
Gripping, tragic tale of a U.S. couple’s successful recovery mission \NEWS A4
Terrace’s new gymnastics coach is a 32-year veteran of the sport \SPORTS A22