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POLICE UPDATES P. 3 EDITORIAL P. 6
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Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Report says Vanderhoof air quality below national standards
Wayne Salewski and friends were building a dyke at his residence on Reid Drive while staff from the hatchery were checking the telemetry for the Nechako White Sturgeon during the flooding on May 22. SUBMITTED photo
Vivian Chui Omineca Express
B.C. says no to provincial funds for flood damage, council says yes Vivian Chui Omineca Express Vanderhoof’s council is appealing the province’s refusal to provide funding for private property damage caused by flooding in May. Emergency Management BC has granted financial assistance to the district towards the immediate response to the flood and the damage to public property — sandbagging, for example — but not for damage caused to homes, said Tom Clement, the District’s Chief Administrative Officer. “In making the decision they decided that there wasn’t enough damage, there weren’t enough homes to meet the criteria,” Clement said. “We’re going to appeal that and say one is enough, if there was damage.” In response to Vanderhoof’s application, Emergency Management BC said that “the high water table from April 24th to June 24th and subsequent water seepage into residential low lying homes” was not eligible for Disaster Financial Assistance, after r
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“[assessing] the severity of the event, the safety of people, the extent of the damage and the number of people and/or communities affected.” Part of the district council’s appeal is to get a better understanding on the damage residents have, Clement said. “It doesn’t sit well with council that there seems to be an arbitrary limit,” he said. “Is it 10 homes, 20 homes, or three homes?” The district’s mayor Gerry Thiessen will meet with MLA John Rustad on Wednesday for his advocacy on the appeal. “It was incredibly disappointing for us as the community that we didn’t qualify,” said Thiessen. “Especially as the person in charge of northern British Columbia’s emergency preparedness had recommended [Vanderhoof] to qualify for national disaster fund.” For Paul Collard who resides on View Street, his finished basement had been affected by both this year’s flooding as well as in 2007. “The cost has not been huge to fix things, but losing about 50 per cent of living space for 40 days in a year certainly is,” he said.
unit 2015 Comm F O O H R E Introducing Vanderhoof’s Own -D VAN
Vanderhoof residents may be breathing dirtier air than they think they are in the past three years, according to a recent report. The Ministry of Environment’s first air quality report for the Central Interior Air Zone — including nearby communities such as Prince George, Quesnel, Williams Lake, and Smithers — states that Vanderhoof’s air pollutant levels have exceeded national standards from 2011 to 2013. With data collected from 10 monitors in the area, Vanderhoof and Smithers are the two communities found to have a high 24-hour average amount of fine particulates, while the annual average amount is also high in Vanderhoof. The district council will work with the ministry to understand why first, said Tom Clement, Vanderhoof’s Chief Administrative Officer. “One of the things is that Vanderhoof and Smithers are the only two along the northern route that have a newer monitoring system,” Clement said. “There maybe something in that.” According to the report, higher concentration of fine particulates are expected with the new monitors because they account for the amount that older measuring procedures may lose. As Vanderhoof’s monitor is currently located on top of the district’s courthouse, the council is looking to do additional monitoring in case of skewed data, Clement added. “This is definitely a warning to us that we need to do something,” he said. “The environment committee will investigate it, and come back to council with answers to questions why and what can we do to improve.” While Vanderhoof shares the same air quality See AIR QUALITY REPORT, page 2
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