A FOUR-car collision at the Westview intersection of the Upper Levels Highway resulted in some injuries Monday morning. Paramedics attend to one of the wounded. NEWS photo Cindy Goodman Beach coliform counts remain low 300% margin of error. PANORAMA BEACH — traditicnally closed period- ically during the summer months ty fecal coliform poilution — remains open so far this year. The fecal coliform count at the Deep Cove beach currently has a reading of 44 parts per 100 millilitres of water, accord- ing to Bill Kimmett, [North Shore Health’s director 0! en- vironmental health. The readings are based on a loga- rithmic mean of water samples taken from Deep Cove water- front areas over 30 days. The maximum acceptable coliform level for swimming beaches is 200. Kimmett said the readings have been consistently low recently with no significant **blips’’ of elevated reading: “*There’s no rhyme or reason to the whole wsue, but as long as it stays like that we're quite happy,” said Kimmeitt. Last July +. North Shore Health posted health warning signs at Panorama Beach utter fecal coliform reached «anac- ceptable levels in Deep ove harbor waters The beach remained c' wed for 31 consecutive days, 41th the waters reaching a peak col- iform reading of 550. In 1989 the beach wa. closed trom June 16 to July 13; in 1988 it By Elizabeth Collings News Reporter was closed twice, once for 47 consecutive days. Meanwhile, North Van- couver District has hired EVS Consultants Ltd. to conduct more exhaustive testing in an attempt to pinpoint the pollu- tion source or sources that chronically plague Deep Cove harbor. According to John Bremner, director of engineering for North Vancouver District, the district’s testing has yielded wildly fluctuating results white the official testing, done by the Greater Vancouver Regiona: Nistrict, has not revealed th. same erratic results. “What we've got relative to the official readings is that we're very low, but from = our sting we have some high ivadings,”’ Bremner said. “It may just simply be luck of the draw as to when they're the GVRD samples) taken.” he said, adding that the test for tecat coliform levels has a The district's program, which has a budget of $40,000, sets up a grid system through the cove waters. Artificial sed- iment bags are anchored to floats in 16 locations and then tested to determine where the coliform is entering the water. So far, the elevated coliform counts have been short in duration and scattered throughout the cove, Bremner said. The district is also waiting for the results of sampies sent to Yyuvonto where a laboratory is using a ‘‘genetic fingerprin- ting’’ test to see which species is contributing to the high fecal coliform readings. Past studies have suggested several potential pollution sources, ranging from dog feces and geese droppings to urban runoff, boating activity in the harbor and both district and private sewage systems. According to current readings, Cates Park has a reading of 22, Ambleside has a count of 31 and West Van- couver’s Eagle Harbor, another beach that has experienced chronic pollution problems and subsequent closures in the past, has a feeal coliform count of 59. Wednesday. July 10. 1991 - North Shore News - 3 First fireboat may be in water by April 1992 Quick-response harbor craft contract to be put to tender THE CONTRACT to build four new quick-response fireboats proposed for port duty in Burrard Inlet will be put out to tender later this month. The Vancouver Port Fire Pro- tection Committee, a group with representation from the Van- couver Port Corp. and the five municipalities fronting the harbor, anticipates thai the first of the firebozts will be in the water by April 1992. Three more fireboats are ex- pected to be delivered over the following three consecutive months. The $3-miilion waterfront firefighting strategy also includes a marine firefighting platform and provision for the training of North Vancouver City and District, Port Moody, Burnaby and Vancouver firefighters and officers. One of the new fireboats will be based on either side of the harbor close to the North Shere and Vancouver SeaBus terminals; one will work from the Port-Moody Burnaby area; and one will be based on the Dollarton waterfront in North Vancouver. The firefighting platform will be based on the Vancouver side of the harbor near the foot of Rogers Street. The port has operated without the service of a fireboat since Vancouver City Council decom- missioned its fireboat at the beginning of 1988. Said North Vancouver District Fire Department Chief Rick Grant in the wake of Sunday’s fire destruction of the Kits Coast Guard base, ‘‘Obviously the peo- ple in the fire service feel that there is a need for fire protection By Michael Becker News Reporter on the water side. That’s why we got together and came to this agreement. To comment on what's happened in the past, it’s happen- ed. No matter what we would say, it's all conjecture. The old boat had a large pumping capacity, it did have a slow response.”’ Had the original fireboat been in place Sunday, its response time to Kitsilano from the inner harbor could have been anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Added Grant, ‘‘It seems the critical time in that particular fire was the first 20 minutes. Even if we had the fast response boats available at that time, yes it could have minimized some of the dam- age. But the big thing in a pier fire is the ability to cut it off at some point and water is not the only way to cut it off. Quite often it could be a matter of cutting through the pier at a certain point and setting up your defence.”’ Meanwhile the first marine firefighting training session of fire department officers began this week at the North Vancouver- based Pacific Marine Training In- stitute. North Vancouver City, District and Port Moody fire department personnel are par- ticipating in the first session. Firefighters and other officers will attend marine firefighting training sessions in the fall. West Van adopts new tree policy WEST VANCOUVER District Council has adopted a con- troversial new tree policy for the municipality that will be in effect for a one-year trial period. Jim MacCarthy of the British Properties and Area Homeowners Association, one of the ratepayer groups consulted about the poli- cy’s wording, told council that the bylaw does not adequately address the control of trees, which on the West Coast can grow several feet a year. But the association agreed that the new policy deserves a one-year trial. “Success will key on two fac- tors: the amount of caoperation and goodwill tha: emanates from the neighborhood and the patience and inter-personal skills of the ar- borist,"’ said MacCarthy. West Vancouver’s full-time ar- borist Shirley Charlton-Nicholson, who has been on the job for sev- eral months, has no legal powers concerning trees an private prop- erty, but she can assist in negotiating solutions for residents with tree disputes. West Vancouver's new tree pol- icy acknowledges the importance of trees in North Shore’s park-like setting and their contribution to the “views” people enjoy. By Maureen Curtis Contributing Writer But trees grow so fast in the West Coast rainforest that they See Arborist page 8 Dn index ® Budget Beaters W@ Business............ 19 @ Classified Ads EcoUpdate W Lifestyles ........... 53 @ North Shore Now....24 @ Dr. Ruth @Sports.... . WV Listings ......... 40 @ What's Going On... .56 Weather Thursday. cloudy with sunny periods, Friday. mostly sunny, Highs 24°C. Second Class Registration Number 3885