S TANDARD TERRACE
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VOL. 27 NO. 41
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Rio Tinto Alcan fish fine pending By MARGARET SPEIRS SUBMISSIONS OVER how much Rio Tinto Alcan should be fined after being found guilty of killing salmon continued last week in Terrace court. The company was originally charged with one count each of harmful alteration of fish habitat and destruction of fish, two violations of the Federal Fisheries Act, from an event at Kemano where its hydroelectric facilities
powering its Kitimat aluminum smelter are located. Those charges stem from an April 14, 2011 incident in which the company decreased the water supply to the Kemano River, a move that followed an emergency request made by BC Hydro regarding repairs the crown corporation needed to make. Rio Tinto was found guilty by provincial court judge Calvin Struyk a year ago and lawyers for the parties were before him last
week regarding the size of a fine and other matters. Penalties imposed on the company could be fines of up to $1,000,000, up to six months in jail for the company’s officials or both. With eulachon and salmon in the Kemano River, and the importance of the eulachon to the Haisla people, Alcan had an agreement with the Haisla to give the eulachon priority. But in focusing on the eulachon, salmon weren’t con-
sidered, said Struyk in his March 2015 decision. That decision was released from a trial that took place over several days in May and October 2014. In its own statement of May 13, 2013, BC Hydro said it asked Rio Tinto Alcan to cut the flow of water into the Kemano River, which would mean less water going through its generators to produce electricity, because of a “hot spot,” a bad connection on a transmission
line that had heated up and was in danger of melting the connection. The transmission lines of Rio Tinto Alcan and BC Hydro are connected so that if the connection had melted, it could’ve potentially caused “catastrophic damage to the transmission line and surrounding area and result in a longer outage to repair,” said BC Hydro in that statement. It added that a repair was required as soon as possible.
In court Jan. 27, Crown prosecutor Michelle Ball said the crown wanted a fine of $250,000 and a Water Survey Canada gauge to be installed at a cost of $20,000 and monitored for 10 years with a cost of $20,000 per year. In replying, defence lawyer Robert Hunter said that if the flow had not been cut to the Kemano River, then the work to repair the hydro lines would’ve taken longer.
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Curbside subsidy plan under study
JACKIE LIEUWEN PHOTO
■■ Let’s learn! JOY HENRY enjoys watching her children Daniel Jr., 2, and Alexx, 7, create with play dough at the recent Family Literacy Day at Cassie Hall Elementary School Jan. 30. The event had all kinds of family activities and play that encourages learning, as well as a short presentation from Kitsumkalum singers and a lunch.
SUBSIDIES FOR seniors and disabled people for the Kitimat-Stikine regional district’s curbside recycling collection program won’t be happening anytime soon but the regional district director who suggested it will keep looking into solutions. “Although my motion was defeated, it is my hope and my goal to remain diligent and prompt in finding ways through possible subsidies available within the province to support individuals, specifically seniors and disabled persons on fixed incomes, financially, in part, with curbside collection fees,” says Jessica McCallum-Miller who represents the rural area surrounding Terrace and extending south past Lakelse Lake. Last year, McCallum-Miller proposed a motion which would introduce subsidies for seniors and disabled individuals when the regional district brought in its curbside collection program. Regional district officials then contacted municipalities and other regional districts to ask if they did anything similar. After receiving many replies, officials recommended against subsidies because many municipalities and regional districts said subsidy programs caused additional work and difficulties keeping track of who should receive a subsidy and who should not. McCallum-Miller then suggested subsidizing individuals who had extra medical waste, a program that was in place in the Kamloops area and which looked to be successful. She said this would assist many seniors/disabled persons on fixed incomes that reside in Thornhill and the larger rural area. That idea is now to form the basis for a draft plan and once that’s prepared, it will be presented to the regional district board for a vote. The regional district’s curbside recycling and garbage collection program is part of a larger program to reduce waste and increase recycling and features the creation of a new disposal location at Forceman Ridge. The City of Terrace also has a curbside program and is also part of the Forceman Ridge initiative which involves closing the city’s landfill and converting the regional district’s Thornhill landfill into a transfer station.
Gifted in gospels
High speed Nass
Skating feats
Terrace vocalist joins Alberta trio as lead, talks DIY methods \COMMUNITY A14
New fiber optic line means scorching internet speeds in remote valley \NEWS A13
Terrace’s figure skating team returns from Prince George with 34 medals. \SPORTS A21