Gypsy moth trapped in

Friday, September 4, 1992 - North Shore News - 3

West Vancouver

Trapping program finds moths eisewhere in Vancouver port area

AGRICULTURE CANADA/’S gypsy moth trapping pro-
gram on the North Shore has yielded a single moth in the
wake of the controversial aerial and ground spraying pro-

gram
area.

The male moth was trapped in
West Vancouver’s Sentinel Hill
area.

To protect the privacy of the
homeowners who have allowed
traps to be placed on their proper-
ty, Agriculture Canada will not

. release specific addresses of where
moths are discovered.

The moth trapped in West Van-
couver has been sent to an
Agriculture Canada lab for DNA

carried out this spring around the Vancouver port

By A.P. McCredie
News Reporter

testing to determine whether it is
an Asian cr European gypsy
moth.

Gypsy moths have been found
every year on the North Shore
since a single male European gyp-
sy moth was trapped in the British
Properties in 1988.

“Anything we say now, before
the results of the tests are back,
would be pure speculation,”’ said
pariculture Canada biologist Jon

The results of the latest gypsy
moth find are expected by the end
of the month.

- Bell said that more traps have
been set in the Sentinel Hill area
since the discovery of the first
moth earlier last month.

The traps are scented with a
synthetic pheromone that
duplicates the scent given off by a
female gypsy moth.

According to Bell, if a male is
caught, there is a good chance

EWS photo Paul McGrath

- AIRCARE.. Program. technician Chris Cinnamon enters mode! information for a vehicle being
tested at the North Shore’s emission inspection station on McKeen Avenue.

|NV AirCare station opens

t THE NORTH Shore’s AirCare inspection station
. opened for business on Sept. 1, and though kinks in
the computer system on its second day of operations
caused a 45-minute lineup, the processing of. vehicles

is now flowing smoothly.
“We did. have a problem
“with some. of the computer
data ‘collectors first thing
Wednesday morning, .bu:. after
that was looked after the
4: system was running smoothly,”
* said: Scott Latham, the public
:. information manager with Eb-
~.co-Hamilton, the provincial
~;eomtractor for the AirCare
program. ;
.: Latham also asked that, for

“2 the first two months or so, on-
ly people who have September

or October licence plate tags on.

\ their vehicles should come to
“the station.
‘<The first few months will be
: slower because the technicians
that operate the AirCare sta-
tion: are still relatively new at
the job.

““Akhough the AirCare pro-.

gram is modelled after suc-
cessful programs that have
“been operating for more. than
two decades in the United
States, the. British Columbia
program is the most technolog-
ically advanced in. North
America.

On the first day of testing in
the Lower Mainland, over
3,000 ‘cars and light trucks were
tested at the 11 AirCare inspec-

- tion. stations. Of those vehicles,
~ 2A% failed the inspection.

Vehicles that must be in-
spected.wunder the AirCare pro-

_ gram in order to have their in-
surance renewed are: |.

Ey A.P. McGradie
News Reporter

@ passenger vehicles and
trucks 5,000 kg gross vehicle
weight and less;
@ motor homes of 5,000 kg
net weight and less,

Excluded from the testing

e:
@ vehicles being licensed for
the first time in British Col-
umbia;
@ current model
newer vehicles;
e electric-powered vehicles;
@ vehicles with vintage or col-
lector.plates;
® motorcycles, snowmobiles,
amphibious and_ all-terrain
vehicles.
Vehicles. undergo a_ three-
stage inspection at the station.
The first step logs the age,
model, registration and licence
of vehicles into a computer.
From this information, a
technician determines what
emission-control corponents
were originally installed on the
véetiicie and the ‘‘maximum al-
Jowable”’ emission limits based
on the manufacturer’s’ original
performance specifications. :
‘Vehicles with’ a model year
of 1988 and newer. must have
all the originally installed com-
ponents in place. -
The component check for

year and

“older is

vehicles of 1987 vintage and
limited to the
evaporative canister, the posi-
tive crankcase ventilation
system, the thermostatic. air
cleaner and the fuel cap (which
must prevent acceptance of
leaded fuel).

In the second year of the
AirCare program, however, all
vehicles, regardless of age,
must have all factory equip-
ment installed.

The inspection’s second stage
entails a sexsor exhaust pipe
test at three’ settings: a simu-
lated drive at 50 km/h, in
neutral at 2,500 rpm and. at
idle speed.

Also, as a complimentary
check, the vehicle’s alignment
is examined.

In the final inspection stage,
the vehicle owner is given a
computer printout of the
results.

If a vehicle fails, the repairs ©
needed will be itemized.

All failed vehicles must be
repaired at one of the 200 cer-
tified AirCare repair centres in
the Lower Mainland.

The vehicle must then be
re-inspected

The province has set repair
cost limits for emission repairs
at $200.

The cost of inspection is $15
(plus $1.05 GST) and must be
paid in cash.

Current Autopian licence
and insurance documents must
also be presented.

The North Shore inspection
station is located at 1333
McKeen Ave. just off the south
foot of Pemberton Avenue in

- North Vancouver.

that a female is in the area.

But the Agriculture Canada
biologist reiterated that the aerial
and ground spraying program is
being deemed a resounding suc-
cess

“There are any number of
possible answers as to how the
moth found in West Vancouver
got there,’ said Bell. “It could
have flown there from outside the
sprayed area, been attached to a
vehicle that drove into West Van
from somewhere elise or have been
mature before the spraying pro-
gram commenced.”’

Agriculture Canada has trapped
129 gynsy moths so far this year
in Lower Mainland areas outside
of the sprayed area.

In Richmond — the area of
highest concentration of trapped
moths — 64 males, three females,
and nine egg masses have been
found this summer.

The tests to determine whether
the moths are the Asian or Euro-
pean variety will take a few
weeks.

The Asian gypsy moths differ
from the European gypsy moth in
that the female Asian moth can

24-hour

fly, making it much more difficult
to control,

The voracious appetites of the
moths pose a serious threat to
Lower Mainland forests and
lumber shipping operations.

The first Asian gypsy moths ar-
rived in the Lower Mainland in
May 1991 on freighters from
Siberia.

The ships had entered the port
to load grain at Vancouver and
North Shore terminals.

As of this July, any ship that |
has originated or spent time in
any port on the east coast of
Russia — a region with a high in-
cidence of Asiar. gypsy moths —
must be inspected at Constance
Bank near Victoria before being
allowed into the Vancouver port. -

“‘We are not willing to take the
risk and let another ship get: in
and cause an infestation of Asian
gypsy moths,’’ Bell said.

Last month a gypsy moth egg
mass was discovered aboard a
vessel.

The ship was subsequently
taken 12 miles out to sea, cleaned,
reinspected, and then allowed ac-
cess to the Vancouver port.

sailing

experiment to
end on Tuesday

A CRITIC ‘of the B.C. Ferry Corp.’s (BCFC) 24-hour
sailix;;; schedule said she doesn’t think the Crown corpora-
tion will seek the views of Horseshoe Bay residents when

deciding whether all-night sailings on the Horseshoe Bay-
to-Nanaimo route should be permanent.:

The BCFC started its 24-hour
ferry schedule between Horseshoe
Bay and Nanaimo for a 75-day
trial period on June 25. The ex-
perimental sailing program is
scheduled to end on Sept. 8.at 5

a.m.

BCFC spokesman Bill Bouchard
said the ferry corporation will
now review the program to decide

if it should be implemented per-'

manently. -

He added that Horseshoe Bay
residents and West Vancouver
District will be consulted before
any final decision is made.

But Ingrid Fischer, spokesman
for the Horseshoe Bay group Stop
Overnight Sailings (SOS), said she

does not think the BCFC will ask’

Horseshoe Bay residents for their
views on the subject.

“No way were we ever given
any consideration. At no time did
they (BCFC) ever respond to us,
and I don’t see how or why they
would respond to us now.

“If they don’t renew. it (24-
hour sailings), great, but if they
do renew it I don’t think we'll be
contacted,”’ said Fischer. .

But Bouchard said. the BCFC
has already contacted West Van-
couver District for its views on the
24-hour schedule and also plans
to ask Horseshoe Bay residents
for their input on the issue.

“We have written to the
municipality te get their co-opera-
tion. We have done sound tests,

-BCFC officials and

By Surj Flattan
News Reporter

passenger. surveys. We'll look at
the. finances and the ‘whole pic-
ture,’ said Bouchard.

“We've been getting complaints .
and positive feedback on it, and -
those .comments - will. all go into
the final package.”’

He added that the final decision
on the 24-hour sailing program’.
wiil be made by the BCFC’s board
of directors. wo

That final decision,
may be made by October.

Last month, West - Vani
Mayor Mark Sager said he’ and:
four other mayors want the ‘BCFC
to establish a permanent advisory-’
committee that would. include °
the five ..
mayors whose communities are.
affected by ferry traffic.

Sager added that. he is especially -
concerned about safety at the -
Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal.
since the BCFC implemented its .
24-hour ferry schedule.

The last series of 24-hour ferry.
sailings between Horseshoe Bay ..
and Nanaimo began on Sept. 3-
and will continue until $ a.m. on
Sept. 8. _.

Meanwhile, Bouchard said the ’
BCFC’s full summer schedule will”
be in place right through the up-~
coming Labor Day long weekend. 2

he said, .

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