3 - Wednesday, October 18, 1989 - North Shore News NEWS photo Terry Peters NO BLACK cat was involved, but Friday the 13th was a bad day anyway for the drivers of a cab and a van. They met suddenly and unexpectedly midday on the roadway near St. Georges Avenve and West 8th Street. Luckily no one was injur: ed in the accident. | _ Canfor announces dioxin reductions But Howe Sound environmentalist Terry Jacks is unimpressed HOWE SOUND Pulp and Paper Ltd. (HSPP) has an- nounced that it has virtually eliminated what is consid- ered to be the most toxic dioxin from the company’s Port Mellon pulp mill ef- fiuent, according to results from recent tests commis- sioned by the company. By TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporter And while Canadian Forest Products Ltd., which owns HSPP along with the Oji Paper Co. of Japan, is calling the test results *“*g00d news’’, Eavironmental Watch founder Terry Jacks said the announcement ‘“‘is no news. [t doesn’t mean anything.”’ According to a Canfor press release, results from tests con- ducted in September show that dioxin 2,3,7,8 TCDD has been reduced ‘‘to non-detectable levels’’ in both effluent and pulp. The company also announced a “‘dramatic’’ reduction in furans in the mill’s effluent. Overall, according to the com- pany, dioxin and furan levels have TIMOTHY Renshaw ...double ed- itorial honors. been reduced by 99.4 per cent in effluent and 98.7 per cent in pulp. Dioxins and furans are produced in the pulp bleaching pracess. They have been linked to cancer in labo- ratory animals and can lead to the destruction of immune systems in salmonids. Commercial crab fishing in Howe Sound was closed June 14 by Fisheries and Oceans Canada after results from tests showed continuing high levels of dioxins and furans in fish samples taken from Howe Sound. In September, results from Ca- nadian Pulp and Paper Associi- tion (CPPA) tests conducted in the early part of this year showed the effluent from Canfor’s Port Mellon mill as having the highest dioxin and furan levels of all B.C.’s pulp mills. The same tests showed that Western Pulp Inc.’s Woodfibre pulp mill on Howe Sound had reduced the dioxins in its effluent by 90 per cent from_ ievels measured in early 1988. According to the Canfor press release, the most recent study, which was commissioned by HSPP, compared its results with those of the CPPA survey after Port Mellon had switched to high chlorine dioxide substitution bleaching in early September as part of a multi-million dollar pro- sect to upgrade the Port Mellon mill. The company attributes the subsequent drop in organochlorines in Port Meilon’s effluent to mill bleaching plant changes that allow a 50 per cent substitution of chlorine dioxide for News wins THE NORTH Shore News was recognized for editorial and photographic achievements in the recent B.C. & Yukon Community Newspaper Association awards. News photographer Neil Lucente placed second overall in the feature photo category of the annual awards with a pictorial study of young girls in a local dance class. And senior News reporter Timothy Renshaw won honcrable mention in the competition’s MacMillan Bloedel News Feature chiorine in the first stage of the pulp bleaching process. Canfor vice-president of en- vironment Kirke MacMillan stated in the company’s press release that he was ‘“‘very pleased to announce this good news. It is a significant achievement, and we are looking forward to the start up of our ox- ygen delignification system next May which will provide another major improvement in the mill’s environmentai performance.”’ But Jacks said, because the company organized the monitor- ing, the test results were far from conclusive. “How can we believe them?” Jacks asked. The only way for the public to receive valid and objective effluent toxicity measurements, he said, was to have the government con- duct round-the-clock monitoring of Howe Sound mills. Jacks added that dioxins were only the “tip of the iceberg. The mills have to contain their pollu- tion within their own fences.”’ Canfor spokesman Darrel Mawhinney said the company paid for the tests, but added that they were conducted ‘‘by highly respected, independent companies. The only way we can find out if our new procedures are working is if we test. I don’t know what else we can do.”’ B.C. Research collected the ef- fluent and pulp samples for the HSPP study. The samples were analyzed by Seakem Analytical Services, the same laboratory used in the CPPA dioxin tests. award category for his story chronicling the questionable business practices of a group of unlicensed appliance repair com- panies. Renshaw also placed second in the BCAA Drinking and Driving Awareness Award. The reporter's entry chronicled a North Vancouver family’s battle to CYCN GARY Bannerman ...new weekly columnist. Business ........ ... 40 Classified Ads..........49 Comies.......-........48 Or. Ruth...............46 Editorial Page...........6 A rr Boh Hunter............ 4 Lifestyles..............45 Mailhox............... 7 North Shore Mow.......21 Sports ................ 13 TY Listings............32 What's Going On........37 WEATHER Wednesday and Thursday, periods of rain. Highs near DOUG Collins ...returns twice a month, Columns launched THE NORTH Shore News will begin running regular week- ly columns by award-winning broadcaster, journalist and author Gary Bannerman starting Sunday, Oct. 22. In addition, the newspaper will feature regular twice monthly guest columns by recently-retired News Get This Straight columnist Doug Collins. The first contribution from the controversial Collins, which will be presented in his new On the Other Hand column, will appear Wed- nesday, Oct. 25. He will also write a special Remembrance Day article for the Sunday, Nov. 12 issue of the News. Bannerman, one of the most in- novative and dynamic broadcasters in Canada over the past two de- cades, hosted B.C.’s leading talk show for 16 years at radio station CKNW. In that time, he interviewed hundreds of interna- tionally-prominent guests, ranging from former CIA director William Colby to three-time world A honors recover emotionally and financially from a tragic car accident that killed one teenager and critically injured another. While the story was not written specifically as a deterrent to drink- ing and driving, the judges said the “chilling account’ of the after- math of an impaired driving acci- dent ‘“‘should certainly change public perception of the drinking driver as acceptable,’ which was in keeping with the criteria of the award. heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali. Bannerman has also cultivated a wide circle of prominent friends and associates, including Premier Bill Vander Zalm. Prior to his work in radio, Ban- nerman worked as a reporter and columnist for such newspapers as the Telegraph-Journal of Saint John, N. B., and the Vancouver Province. He will bring a unique new voice to the News. Collins, himself an award win- ning journalist, retired July 2 from writing his thrice-weekly Get This Straight column for the News after five years and over 700 columns. Popular demand has prompted Collins to make a partial return from retirement and a_ regular return to the News pages, with his well-known, controversial opi- nions. NEIL Lucente ...second place for feature photogcaphy.