PULP MILLS TARGETED

Pamphlets urge
action to stop
Sound pollution

WEST VANCOUVER-based Environmental Watch has
mailed out 200,000 four-color pamphlets to residents all
over the Howe Sound area urging immediate action to stop
what the pamphlets maintain is the killing of Howe Sound

by pulp industry pollution.

Produced by Environmental
Watch and the Western Canada
Wilderness Committee, the pam-
phiets include photographs of
smokestacks discharging smoke
from Howe Sound’s Woodfibre
and Port Mellon pulp mills, exam-
ples of deformed sealife and a
provincial map comparing lung
cancer rates around B.C.

But industry representatives say
the pamphlets are misleading and
factually incorrect.

Environmental Watch founder
Terry Jacks said the pamphlets
have been mailed to residents all
over the Howe Sound area and to
residents in all B.C. communities
near pulp mills to raise public
awareness of the serious en-
vironmental impacts of mill pollu-
tion on their communities.

They are also designed, he said,
to draw environmental activists out
of the closet in the far reaches of
Howe Sound and the rest of the
province.

“It will show them what’s being
done down here,’’ Jacks said. ‘‘A
lot of them are concerned but
don’t know what to do. Howe
Sound is merely a reflection of
what is happening to the environ-
ment all up and down the coast.’”

But Canfor Corp.’s vice-presi-
dent of environment Kirke Mac-
Millan said the pamphlet ‘‘is so
full of holes it’s laughable. There
is very little in it that has any
substance.”’

He said, for example, that a
198! aerial photograph in the
publication showing purple water
near Canfor’s Port Mellon pulp
mill is not the result of ‘‘purple
toxic effluent pumped into Howe
Sound” from the mill as stated in
the cutline under the photograph.

Pulp mill effluent, he said, is
brown, not purple.

MacMillan said the contrasting
lighter-colored Howe Sound water
in the picture is the result of runoff
from nearby Rainy River.

Canfor, he said, was going over
the pamphlet paragraph by
paragraph, but had not yet decided

By TIMOTHY RENSHAW
News Reporter

whether to produce a_ printed
rebuttal to the statements made in
the publication.

Howe Sound was closed in-
definitely June 14 to all commer-
cial crab fishing because of high
levels of dioxin and furan pollu-
tion.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada
has since expanded the crab fishery
closures to seven other areas
around B.C. coastal pulp mills
because of high toxic pollution
Jevels found in marine life sampled
in those areas.

Both Howe Sound mills are ctir-"

rently instituting multi-million
dollar programs that they maintain
will eliminate all dioxins and
furans from their effluents.

In addition to mailing out the
pamphiets, Environmental Watch
will be involved in a Dec. 17 rally
at the United Fishermen and Allied
Workers’ Union hall, 160-111 Vic-
toria Dr., Vancouver, that will in-
clude representatives from the
commercial fishing industry; en-
vironmental, native and sport fish-
ing groups; forestry and pulp
unions; and the B.C. Federation of
Labour.

Jacks said the NOW (Nothing in
Our Water) coalition has invited
federal and provincial environment
and fisheries ministers to appear at
the meeting.

The coalition, he said, will de-
mand that poisons from pulp mills
stop polluting the B.C. environ-
ment.

“And the message is stop now,”’
Jacks said. ‘‘We don’t want to
wait any more. We don’t want to
wait another year. And we are not
just talking about dioxins and
furans. We are talking about the
thousands of toxic compounds that
are being pumped into the water
that belongs to all of us.””

Jacks said if the ministers do not
agree to reflect the will of the peo-
ple and stop the pollution, ‘‘we
will call for their resignation.”"

DUE TO popular demand the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra will be performing two return engagements in
North Vancouver starting Saturday. Yhe VSO played to an enthusiastic crowd at Waterfront Park last

summer (above).

TWO CONCERTS

Symphony to play
at N. Van market

THE SPIRIT of Christmas gets into full swing this

Saturday when the city’s

premier orchestra returns to

Lonsdale Quay Market for two afternoon concerts.

The Vancouver Symphony Or-
chestra, fed by conductor Bruce
Dunn, will perform an_ old-
favorites Christmas festival pro-
gram at 2 p.m. and again at 3:45
p.m. on Dec. 16.

The program includes Fred
Stride’s Fanfare for Christmas;
VSO bass player Fred Schipizky’s
Quiet Eve; Michael Conway
Baker’s Chanson des Joyeuse;
Ralph Vaughan Williams’
Greensleeves and an assortment
of traditional Christmas carols
fora sing-along.

This is the VSO’s second
Christmas concert at the Quay.
Last year hundreds of people
turned out to hear them play,
said Janet King of Lonsdale
Quay Market.

“It was a very popular concert.
We always have a good turnout
here and that’s why we keep ask-
ing them back,’’ King said.

The VSO recently began per-

NV CITY COUNCIL TO DUMP FIRM’S CONTRACT

Garbage collection de-privatized

GARBAGE COLLECTION
will be de-privatized in
North Vancouver City fol-
lowing council’s approval of
a city report that says the
cost difference between
public and private collection
is negligible.

By CORINNE BJORGE
Contributing Writer

“It is my belief that the costs of
providing a public service collec-
tion and disposal service will not
vary significantly from the costs of
a private service providing reason-
able manning provisions are of-
fered by CUPE (Canadian Union
of Public Employees),’’ said city
engineer Chuck Gale in his report
to council,

The decision by council to not
renew the private contract which
expires December 1990, ends an
experiment with private collection
services that began after the city

felt it was being pushed into a cor-
ner by CUPE’s last-minute
negotiating requests.

Ald. Bill Bell said the report
vindicated council members who

bage, we felt we could get good
service,’’ said Braithwaite.

“Since that time (the privatiza-
tion) I felt P’'ve gotten poor ser-
vice,’” he said.

“If we give it carte blanche to CUPE, I
don’t think we are business-like.’’

— North Vancouver

City Ald. Stella Jo Dean
a

had fought against the privatiza-
tion.

“The report makes it clear that
it was a political decision, not a
cost-savings decision,’’ said Bell.
“There is not the difference (in
cost) that had been promised.”’

Ald. John Braithwaite said that
garbage privatization was an
“issue of control’? and its collec-
tion should be a municipal service.

“The main thing is that when we
had our own employees doing gar-

But Mayor Jack Loucks said he
wasn’t convinced that bringing
garbage collection back under the
city’s wing would improve service
or reduce the cost.

“T haven’t heard anyone give ev-
idence that the offer was better,”
said Loucks. ‘(Private collection)
is just as good as when it was col-
lected by our own people.”’

And Ald. Stella Jo Dean said
she did not support giving the col-
lection service to CUPE without

EVELYN JACOB
News Reporter

forming in public places to raise its
profile and make it more accessible
to the public, says VSO prome-
tions manager Muriel Schubert.

After a successful summer
concert series, Schubert said the
orchestra decided to ‘‘go where
the people would be, and play for
them.’’

“It’s in keeping with the idea
of bringing the symphony out to
the community so people have
the opportunity to experience the
VSO in different settings,’’ she
said.

King said the VSO ‘‘seems to
be living up to that commit-
ment.’’

Public concerts like the Dec. 16
Quay performance help raise the
profile of the VSO outside the
Orpheum, said Schubert. They
also give other people, in addi-

going to public tender to allow
private companies to bid on the
contract.

“If we give it carte blanche to
CUPE, I don’t think we are
business-like,’’ said Dean.

But the engineer’s report warned
against having the city bid against
private contractors.

“In the event that a contractor
errs on a tender and exceeds the
tendered price, the City still re-
quires that contract price to be
adhered to with the resulting loss
accruing to the contractor. In the
event the city exceeded its tendered
price, who would pay the dif-
ference?’’ said the report.
“Discussions with other
municipalities suggests this is a
policy to stay away from.”’

Dean said she was also worried
about the added costs of regaining
and storing garbage collection
equipment.

“There are various costs that are
going to be hidden in the tender,”’
said Dean.

3 - Friday, December 15, 1989 - North Shore News

NEWS photo

tion to Orpheum-geers, the
chance to hear them.

This year the VSO’s Christmas
schedule includes a performance
at Winterfest, the children’s
winter festival at B.C. Place,
where they will accompany
world-champion figure skater
Kurt Browning on Dec. 28 and
29.

On New Year’s Eve the or-
chestra takes part in First Night,
Vancouver’s annual celebration
of the arts.

Dunn, who will lead the or-
chestra during the Lonsdale Quay
concert, studied under former
VSO conductor Kazuyoshi
Akiyama and Londen conductor
Norman Del Mare. He conducted
some of Conway Baker’s film
scores and a selection of Joelle
Rabu’s recordings and orchestral
concerts.

Two years ago as part of a
week-long anniversary celebra-
tion, Lonsdale Quay merchants
and members'of the community
raised $10,000 for the VSO. Said
King: “The North Shore com-
munity really showed their sup-
port for the VSO.”’

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