blasting bylaw delayed Amendment process bc-sged down in the drafting phase THE FINAL fuse has yet to be lit on West Vancouver's long-awaited Blasting and Soil Removal and Deposit Amendment Bylaw. By Maureen Curtis Contributing Writer Although the amendment pro- cess Degan Over a year ago when a serious blasting accident sent boulders crashing into several homes on the Caulfeild Plateau, the bylaw is still at the draft stage. Early in June, area blasting broke a watermain that flooded a home on King Georges Way in the British Properties. At about the same time, the bylaw was circulated to ratepayer groups with comments requested by the end of that month, But the process was sidetracked when developer Howard McDer- mid Martin of Martin Corp. sug- gested that further consultat. +* should be allowed, particularly “from individuals who have technical expertise in these mat- ters.’” He recommended a committee be struck that included such ex- perts as a home designer, a geotechnical soil engineer, a blasting firm representative, a landscape architect, a land sur- veyor and a Martin Corp. repre- sentative. West Vancouver District Coun- cil went along with the idea, but appointed residents Roy Bar- tholemew of the Gleneagles Ratepayers, Dr. Basil Meddings of Keith Road (the scene of one of the blasting mishaps), along with Fred Russell of Martin Corp., Rodger Cayford, architect Ellen Hart, David Brousson, consulting engineer Chuck Brawner, West Vancouver Aldermen Donald Griffiths and Ron Wood, and West Vancouver’s planner Steve Nicholls and director of opera- tions Barry Lambert. Because the task force had, as of Aug. 27, met just once to establish their terms of reference, it is unlikely the draft bylaw will be returned to council in September. Bartholomew says there is no doubt that there have been serious problems with the current blasting bylaw. “Whether it is the regulations that are inadequate or that they're not being followed is something we'll have to determine,’” he told the News recently. Bartholomew said that people in his fietd of electrical regulations are “always extremely depressed when we detect a regulation that wasn’t adequate to prevent an ac- cident from happening.” Although the cost of complying with a new regulation is important **because we all pay the cost in the end,” Bartholomew said he believes the bylaw’s major obliga- tion is give optimum protection to WEST VANCOUVER DISTRICT COUNCIL the public. Meddings criticized the amend- ed bylaw because he claims it does little more than increase the in- surance required by a blaster to $3 million. “It’s not really dealing with the way the blasting should be carried out,’" he said. According to the proposed bylaw, a blaster would be required to submit a blasting plan and get the approval of a geotechnical engineer. Meddings proposes that the municipality also limit to 25 feet the distance matter may move from the point of detonation in a blast. He also preposed limiting the ground vibration and airblast that result from any detonation. West Vancouver municipal staff have questioned the relevance of Meddings’ use of U.S. mining regulations in setting the vibration and airblast limits, but Meddings sees mo reason why the task force couldn't define ‘what is consid- ered safe.”” He cited the case of Mrs. Mingay of Keith Road, who nar- rowly escaped injury when rocks that caused $11,000 damage to her home passed just a few feet away from her face. “That might be considered a safe blast because no one was in- jured, but why wait until someone either gets killed or injured?"* Meddings said. The focus of the bylaw, he said, appears to be on recompense rather than prevention; he sug- gested a stiff mandatory fine for blasters who exceed safety limits. Ronald Wilson, who also lives in the area of the March 1990 in- cident, has suggested raising the blasting permit fee to a level that would discourage blasting and assessing an extra $10 charge per ton of rock disturbed. He says there should be a writ- ten indemnification agreement be- tween blasters and persons who might be injured or whose proper- ty might be damaged by blasting. Wilson wanted the allowable hours of blasting per day to be cut and suggested that residents within a wider radius of the blast site be notified at least two weeks. rather than 24 hours, in advance of any blasting. Wilson and Meddings both noted that there are still no restrictions on the amount of rock or soil that can be removed for the installation of utilities or roads. While some feel that eliminating blasting would force people to design homes that conform to the natural topography, developers argue that blasting allows design- crs to set a house more snugly in- to a lot and less obtrusively ‘into the neighborhood. i NEWS photo Stuart Davis SEVERAL FISHERMEN work their lines in the Capilano River on a recent afternoon. Entertainment industry stages benefit for the environment 600 gather at North Shore Studios event THE ENTERTAINMENT industry joined forces to raise $30,000 for the en- vironment Saturday night at a benefit staged at the North Shore Studios. By Peggy Trendell-V/hittaker News Reporter Approximately 600 people con- nected with the entertainment in- dustry — including actor Christopher Reeve — gathered for the event, which was organized by ECO Canada to raise funds for its environment initiatives. ECO Canada was formed by Polly Doven last year after she moved to Vancouver from Los Angeles to work on a television series. She had been a director of ECO L.A., which was founded in 1989 to aid actors, writers, musi- cians, producers and other enter- tainers raise environmental awareness in the public and within their own industry. Highlighting the Saturday night, NEWS photo Neil Lucente GARY PETERSEN, vice-presi- dent of California Waste Management Inc. $50-per-ticket, dinner, dance and auction was a speech by Dr. Noel Brown, North American Director of the United Nations Environ- ment Program. “While much has been done, much still needs to be done to put the world in order,”” said Brown, pointing as an example to areas in Eastern Eurepe that Jose 30 days of sunlight annually to pollution. “You artists can help us feel and gare."* Also speaking were actors Linda Gray and Ed Begley Jr., an ECO director who is known for his per- sonal commitment to environmen- tal matters and his penchant for biking instead of driving whenever possible. “There are people who want to lead us to believe there is no prob- lem,’ he told the crowd. ‘These are the same people who would have us believe that weapons of destruction are peace-keepers.** Gary Petersen, vice-president of California Waste Management Inc., the worid's largest recycling firm, was also present and told the assemblage about his carly ef- forts to initiate recycling programs when he started his own company “with $2 and a Volkswagen bus."” In an interview with the News earlier that day, Petersen said he expects recycling to be North America’s second-iargest: industry by the year 2000.