treatment fi i i aE AMET SNE eth . ee NEWS photo Paul McGrath “ANDRE KROECHER, a North Vancouver resident, makes a ‘ point Thursday at a public meeting held by. the Greater .Vancduver regional District on drinking water quality. ‘$i “B, on ‘TAXPAYERS could end up paying $1.2.billon for a “Lions Gaté Bridge replacement” ‘without improving capacity for | rush-hour commuters, provin- cial: government transportation onsultant. Brian: Wallace told “the North Vancouver Chamber “of Commerce on Thursday. By Kevin Gillies © , Contributing Writer Wallace! of N.D. Lea Associates, told chamber members and guests ‘that any bridge’ option selected will ~ have only four general-traffic lanes ‘and; perhaps, additional transit-only “Manes, . «Increases in traffic volume, he said, will be handled by improved transit improve 2B bridge upgrade might not improve commuter capacity, chamber told: transit service, including: additional { " Sunday, ‘April 24; 1994 * North Shore'N re is clou éws -3 Petitioners support ozone purification option NEARLY IS0 angry: residents turned up Thursday at the North Shore Winter Club to voice their concerns at the fina! pablic meeting on drink- ing water held by the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD). _ By Robert Galster Contributing Writer ‘The issues to be resolved by the panel of ning regionally elected representatives and four experts are: B future water treatment. Current GVRD water treatment practices fall short of both the B.C. Heatth | Act and the Canadian drinking water quality guidelines; expansion of current water sources. Current capacity is only adequate through the year 2005, according to GVRD population growth projections: @ future uf the Seymour Falls Dam. The current dam docs not meet earthquake standards and provincial authorities have ordered compli- ance. The-most contentious issue. among the residents present was the future of water treatment. Several options and the respec- tive increase to yearly household water bills were outlined by the “panel. The options include rechtori- nation (a $55-190 increase per household); chloramination (up $55-115); and ozonation with bio- logical filtration (up $270-280). These costs would be on top of the The $1.2 billion figure is the cost SeaBus service and improvement.of . of a tunnel along the Brockton the Second Narrows/Trans-Canada Highway corridor. :. When asked by an audience member what he would do if he were God, he said, “Something should be done. Sooner.” The selection process, which has gone on since last.October, will not produce a final decision until some- where between next October or January. A short list of options is expect- ed. within the next few months, fol- lowed by more technical research, including an environmental impact study, a traffic impact study, negoti- alions between the provincial gov- ernment and the Squamish Nation (for right-of-way changes) and geo- logical research before the final selection. alignment and is the most expensive option being considered. | Wallace said the government is “very cognizant” of the cost factors ~ involved in any of the. options and that tunnels had higher risks. ‘ He said the-cost risks with tun- nels was illustrated by the tunnel under the Engtish Channel, which has.cost four times its original esti- mate. Wallace presented only four transportation corridors as possible — all between the existing bridge and the: Brockton alignment from Coal Harbor to:MacKay Creek in North Vancouver. Government proposals include: @ rehabilitating the existing bridge to a three or four-lane span by replacing the deck for a cost of up must be ¢ average SE30 pec year paid by households in the Lower Mainland. Local drinking water is cuirenily treated with chlorine, but concerns over tts effects on both publig health and the enviroament have 66 They do not want to give up the logging because of the money they make from it, 99 spurred the present debate, Chlorine has a tendency to bind with bacteria to produce tri- halomethanes (THM) which can cause cancer. Although chloramine produces fewer THMs, both ‘are toxic to fish as past 'watermain bursts and the resultant fish kills have shown. . Qzone with biological filtration is the most environmentally friend- ly option, but its costs are prohibi- _ tive. “In order to be effective, ozone ssed in conjunction with filtration and be followed by a sec- ondary disinfectant,” said Doug Noden, GVRD supervisor of water treatment and research. Ozone’s short staying power necessitates the use of a secondary disinfectant in the water distribu- tion system. Either chlorine or chlo- ramination could be used, but in Jower quantities, thus reducing the ‘to $125 million; $8 building a new four- or five-lane span beside the existing bridge for _ between, $125 million and $425 mil- lion; Bd boring a tunnel beneath the First Narrows for approximately $400 million; a laying an immersed-tube in a trench along the Brockton align- ‘meni for between $900 million and $1.2 billion. Private’ sector proposals include. double-decking the bridge and a variety of tunnels that run from: Lions Gate to Mid-Harbor. Wallace said the major factor that will affect bridge proposal costs is the amount of work done in Stanley Park to conceal the cause- way: tunneling under the park, building Jand bridges across the roadway or doing nothing Six-lane bridge favored for First Narrows RESULTS OF a public consul- “= tation concerning the future of the First Narrows crossing were released Thursday by North Vancouver Reform MP Ted White. By Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter White mailed out a four-page “voter survey” on the Lions Gate Bridge in February to the 60,000 households that make up the North Vancouver federal constituency. CALL US: 983- 2208 White said 1,897 voters filled out the questionnaire. Added White, “A surprising low number of people thought that a provision for rapid transit was important. “Fifty-one per cent of people said they would never use rapid transit.” White acknowledged that the replacement of the Lions Gute Bridge is not a federal responsibili- ty. It is a provincial decision, but the Reform MP said he received numer- ous calls from his constituents about the issue. White said he wanted “to facili- tate public discussion” on the topic and used one of his four yearly householder publications to address the issue. The North Vancouver MP said his survey confirms that the auto- mobile is as popular as ever and the majority of respondents want traffic congestion problems solved. According to the survey results released by White's office: a 55% of respondents said at least a six-lane bridge is required (three lanes each way), 21% favored a five-lane structure with an option to add a second deck for 10 lanes; 9% wanted four lanes, 8% wanted five lanes, and 29% wanted fewer than four lanes; 8 71% of respondents said the gov- erament should go ahead and widen the Stanley Park causeway. Respondents favoring a comprehen- sive ‘environmental study numbered 2295: a Staniey Park tunnel was favored by 43% of the North Vancouver respondents, 23% favored a partial tunnel and 30% indicated that a tun- See NV Shares page § T HIS WEEK’S ‘QUESTION: potential hazard to the environ- ment. Although committee chair John Northey stressed that “no decisions have yet been made,” many of the 48 speakers accused the GVRD of carrying out its own agenda. North Vancouver District resi- dent Reimar Kroecher pointed out that there exists « direct correlation between the amount of turbidity (or cloudiness, which hampers the effectiveness of disinfectants ir the water) and the amount of logging in the watersheds, He stated that a dis- ssion of additional uses of disin- $ is unnecessary because the - sution of logging practices would eliminate most of the current problems. “They do not want to give up the logging because of the money they make from it,” said Kroecher. “They could make the money by increasing the water rates, but that would. show that they made a mis- take and they do ‘not want to do that.” Even though the GVRD sup- ports the chloramination option because of its cost benefits, speak-: ers favored the more expensive, but environmentally friendly ozonation with biological filtration method. - Michelle Bonner presented the committee. with a petition of 546 names urging the implementation of ozonation and biological filtra- tion to replace chlorination as the, primary disintectant.. “y grew up on the: North Shore and Pm concerned about what I’m getting in my tap water and also what ends up in. the ocean,’ ” said Bonner. . : ent questioned : serene BB a: | CTOSSWOT csscessesepeseseeD & Horoscopes seeutunacueene 38 fa Bob Hunters : a Insights... 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