sane, HM. Sound pulp mill 3 - Friday, May 19, 1989 - North Shere News reactions mixed over clean-up deadline GOVERNMENT DEADLINES for the Woodfibre pulp mill on Howe Sound to cut back its discharge of dioxins have been labelled ‘‘unrealistic’’ and ‘‘impossible.’’ John Lukosevicius, vice-presi- dent of operations for Western Pulp Ltd. Partnership which owns the mill, says the company ‘‘agrees with the government’s goal of pro- tecting the environment ... but (their) time lines are unrealistic.”’ But a spokesman for Canfor Corp., which owns Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Ltd.’s (HSPP) Port Mellon mill jointly with Oji Paper Co. Ltd. of Japan, has said the new standards will present no problems for the mill. Last week, Environment Minister Bruce Strachan released what he called ‘the most stringent dioxin regulations announced so far in Canada.”’ A soon-to-be-passed Waste Management Act will require the mills to: reduce the discharge of chlori- nated organics to a maximum of 2.5 kg per tonne of pulp produc- tion by Dec. 31, 1991; * reduce that further to 1.5 kg per tonne by the end of 1994; and *provide secondary effluent treatment by Dec. 31, 1991. The dioxin clean-up follows Strachan’s order to the mills to submit discharge information and reduction plans for dioxin. Lukosevicius says in the case of Woodfibre, ‘‘because of site and process constraints, and the prac- ticality of installing the new tech- nology,’’ they could not meet the deadlines. ““We were not consulted ... and it will be impossible for (us) ito comply. We’re surprised at the minister’s announcement because we have been working with both levels of government for more than a year on a major program to reduce dioxins, chlorinated organics and effluent toxicity, and Thursday that it will invest a fur- ther $50 million for a secondary treatment process at the mill that will substantially reduce chlori- nated organic discharge. But in a press release following Strachan’s announcement, Can- HOWE SOUND ENVIRONMENT: SEE EDITORIAL, PAGE 6; MAILBOX, PAGES 7 AND 8; STORY, PAGE 9 we gave them a realistic schedule and commitment,”’ he added. Western Pulp says it will take until the end of 1992 just to meet the current strictest effluent regu- lations. ‘Since the beginning of 1988, (we) have reduced dioxin levels by 75 per cent and have reduced chlo- rine use by 40 per cent. Western Pulp is already spending $20 mil- lion on effluent-quality improve- ments in 1989,”’ said Lukosevicius. The company announced for’s new environment vice-presi- dent Kirke MacMillan stated: ‘‘By July 1990, HSPP will have virtual- ly eliminated chlorinated dioxins and furans from the Port Mellon mill’s effluent and products.’’ He added that the mill’s second- ary treatment facility will be in operation almost 1% years before the government’s Dec. 31, 1991 deadline. “By that same date,’? Mac- Millan said in the release, ‘‘we ful- NEWS photo hike Wakelleld WEST VANCOUVER strollers were treated to a rare sight recently as male sea lions sunned themselves in the shallows off Ambleside. The sea Hons can occasionally be spotted this time of year in local waters during their annual migration. on’t appeal court’s twin tower decision THE SUPREME court decision upholding the legality of West Vancouver District’s legal agreement with the Twin Towers developers will not be appealed by the local council. Mayor Don Lanskail announced the decision to forgo the appeal and carry on with the proposed development at the Monday night meeting of West Vancouver District Council. “During the past two or three weeks, at the direction of council, senior staff have done their best to negotiate arrangements with Newcorp (the developer) which would avoid a damage claim against the municipality arising from the lengthy delays in this de- velopment,”’ said Lanskail. He complimented district plan- ner Steve Nicholls, in particular, for his success in working out an agreement that releases the municipality from damage claims resulting from delays to the pro- posal, but recognizes the By MAUREEN CURTIS Contributing Writer municipality’s continuing design control. Council was not unanimous in its support of the decision not to appeal, however, Ald. Carole Ann Reynolds said she was disappointed and depress- ed because her stand had always been against the Twin Towers pro- ject, in correspondence with the referendum vote, which showed 50.12 per cent against highrise de- velopment at the site. “Tf we stand on a platform with a ‘No’ vote, and the referendum says ‘No,’ and we don’t go ahead with ‘No,’ then where is our democracy?’’ she asked. Reynolds also wondered how much design contro! the municipality will really have. ‘*An appeal would have given us more bargaining power to get Newcorp to do something more in line with what this community _wants,’’ she told the News later. Ald. Andy Danyliu said he had shared residents’ concerns regard- ing the Twin Towers project and was originally in favor of appeal- ing the Supreme Court decision. But he changed his mind when he saw how well negotiations with Newcorp had gone, and was con- vinced by legal advisors that the potential for the success of an ap- peal was not great. *T’ve come to the conclusion that every member of council will be as keen as I am that the gateway to West Vancouver should remain as attractive as possible, and will join me with hawklike ferocity to make sure that happens,”’ he said. Ald. Pat Boname, who has stuck with her earlier stand in favor of the development, said the whole deveicpment had been subjected to a very cautious planning procedure since the early 1980s. “With vigilant design control we should have a first class develop- ment on that site,’’ she said. Ald. Alex Brokenshire, who was in favor of the court decision, said to appeal the decision would be “highly irresponsible because of the matter of legal damages we could incur.” He wanted it known that council does not have total control over the design of the buildings, as some may have thought. “‘But we can work with the de- veloper to improve the design,’’ Brokenshire added. Council concluded by voting for a motion to receive the memoran- dum of agreement worked out with Newcorp. ly expect that they will have reduc- ed their discharge of chlorinated organics to the required level of 1.5 kilograms per tonne. That’s less than 14 months from now and 4% years ahead of the Ministry of Environment’s deadline of Dec. 31, 1994.” The company says it will invest $88 million in environmental equipment in the ongoing $1 billion project to overhaul and upgrade Canfor’s Port Mellon mill. Strachan says he wants all 17 B.C. mills, which use chlorine in the bleaching process, to meet the new standards, which the minister says ‘‘will virtually eliminate diox- ius from the effluent discharges.’’ On Nov. 30 of last year, the federal government closed shellfish harvesting areas adjacent to the two Howe Sound pulp mills because of the high dioxin levels. Height restricted From paga 1 storey limit to building heights, saying it would lead to “‘sterile, unending canyons of cement walls." But Braithwaite disagreed. ‘‘I’m not buying this bunker-type dungeon (talk),"’ he said, adding that architects can design attractive housing when they are encouraged to do so. **] would like to see the Official Community Plan really maintained at between six to seven storeys," said Braithwaite. Ald. Barbara Sharp agreed that limiting the building height to six storeys did not necessarily mean building ‘‘monster, short apart- ment buildings.”” “There should be control on what sort of structures are built to that maximum. We're looking for some ingenuity on the part of de-- velopers,”’ she said. Braithwaite said the city had to limit highrises from the outset, and not after several were built. “You start sprinkling, you'll get a shower, and when you get a shower, you know what happens,”’ he said. In a related motion, council deferred action on a 15-storey highrise proposal by Intercon De- velopment for a commercial and residential building at St. Georges and East Second Street. By with holding the building permit for 30 days, council hopes to gain time to receive and make decisions on the first draft of the city staff report on Lower Lonsdale. Clark said he believed the delay of the permit time should be tem- porary. “In my mind we’re asking for a 30-day cooling off period,” he said. But Ald. Barbara Sharp said the city should seriously consider a six-storey height restriction, and said council had 1:\oved too quick- ly on the zoning decision in Cen- tral Lonsdale. ‘We were going to look at the issue of density as well as height. I don’t think another couple of months is going to harm it. We need a little bit of time to look at the long-term impact," she said. A report by city staff stated that, in general, ‘‘where density reduction or growth control measures have been introduced (eg. San Francisco’s downtown) and where pressure for growth re- mains, property values generally increase and affordability reduces as sustained demand pushes up prices.’’ : But Sharp said the land would still be of interest to developers even if density restrictions were considered.