December 12, 1993 56 pages Office, Editor:al 985-2131 BENJAMIN HESS, the one | DEEP THOUGHTS i NESW ah hab tis Display Advertising 980-0511 '§ i \ | oeNmErS Classifieds 986-6222 ee tet A LN i osiameenanenmeatem™ anes ene nora are +. NEWS phate Cindy QGcodman 42-year-old son of single mother Susan Hess, will live with a North Vancouver family following a !andmark child custody case in which a B.C. Supreme Court judge rejected a bid by the boy’s birth father for custody. Benjamin’s mother was diagnosed with terminal bone marrow cancer in April. See story page 3. Britannia Beach mine site buyers unaware in 1990,’ he WHEN THE ‘new owners of Copper Beach Estates pur- chased the Britannia Beach copper mine site in 1990, they were unaware that a $4 million environmental disaster was part of the package, according to company preperty man- ager Hugh McDonald. *“*We were told that everything was in compliance environmental- ly,’ said McDonald. Although the mine ceased operation in 1974, acid rock drainage has continued to flow into Howe Sound, with deadly results. . ‘*There’s very severe impact on both the creek and surface water of Howe Sound,’’ said environ- ment ministry spokesman Ray Robb. “ft is not conducive to sheltfish and other marine fife.” On Nov. 26, Environment. Lands and Parks Minister Moe Sihota announced that a new Charlotte Parsons Contributing Writer pollution abatement order was being issued against Copper Beach Estates. The order gave the company eight months to develop a long- range plan for getting rid of the contaminants. McDonald said the price of the cleanup will end up costing ap- proximately $4 million. “T don’t think we paid for the problem when we bought the site aegTE eR g cj EVE said, laughing ironically. But the problem has existed for decades. A pollution abatement order for an extension on the July 31 deadline. ..99 was issued in 1981, demanding that acid rock drainage be col- lected and discharged to Howe Sound. “They (the previous owners) may have complied for a while,’’ said Robb. ‘‘But now some of the acid rock drainage is discharging directly without being collected.” The new owners of Copper Beach Estates recently told the ministry that the previous owners never told them about the abate- ment order. Copper Beach Estates is asking the ministry for an extension on the July 31 deadline to develop the cleanup plan, said McDonald. 44 Copper Beach Estates is asking the ministry Meanwhile, environmentalists are applauding Sihota’s decision. ‘We're really glad to hear the government’s acting on it,’’ said Howe Sound steering committee chairman Rozlynne Mitchell. ‘‘] think its more than reasonable. This has been going on for a tong time.” The ministry has also decided to replace a missing pipe for draining acid mine runoff. The pipe was removed in 1991 when government workers widened an area creek as part of as emergency response to flooding in the area. Copper Beach Estates and the government have been fighting over who should replace the pipe ever since. “The government tried to get Copper Beach Estates to share the costs with them,’’ said Robb, ad- ding that the ministry has finally decided to foot the bill because it is ‘‘sick of fighting about it.’’ During the 70-year life of the mine, about 45 million tonnes of ore were processed to recover copper, gold, silver and zine at Britannia.