North Van company accused of being major polluter THE PRESIDENT of Nep- tune Bulk Terminals (Canada) Ltd. has _ blasted recent media reports that have identified the North Vancouver-based company as a major polluter. By Surj Rattan News Reporter But while John Willcox said Neptune has spent millions of dollars to implement a series of pollution control devices at its North Vancouver waterfront facil- ity, area residents doubt that the company’s new environment pro- gram will do much to reduce Nep- tune’s pollution emissions. Earlier this year, North Van- couver City Council rejected, for the second time, a bid by Neptune to rezone its property to allow for the construction of a $22-million potash storage shed. . Area residents argued that the new storage shed, which Willcox said is needed to meet an antici- pated increase in international demand for potash, would also increase pollution. When Neptune first applied to the city for rezoning, the company promised to install a series of pollution control measures, and Willcox said all of these measures have now been implemented. “We've done what we said we would do. | think we've solved every problem with dust emis- sions, and I never did think we had a noise problem,”’ said Willcox. He added that media reports about Neptune’s pollution prob- lems have failed to mention what environmental programs are in place at the bulk-loading facility. “‘We’ve been working hard since 1980 (to control pollution) and yet the way this is being por- trayed is very disappointing to the people who have worked on this project. We pay a million dollars in taxes and we pay a sewage fee NEPTUNE Bulk Terminals president John Willcox ... “We've done what we said we'd do.”’ every month,’* said Willcox. He added that Neptune has spent $9 million on pollution con- trol devices, which include spray poles to control coal-dust emis- sions and the construction of a four-foot-high trackside sound barrier. Willcox said he was also con- cerned with an environmental hit list report released last week by the B.C. environment ministry in which Neptune was cited for ex- ceeding its effluent permit. He pointed out that the en- vironmental report only looked at Neptune’s operations up until August. He said the company has made significant changes since then to reduce pollution. Neptune has also come under fire from environmental groups for its plan to discharge toxic ef- fluent into the local sewer system. But Willcox said the company has a permit to discharge the ef- fluent from the Greater Van- couver Regional District, and he added that ‘‘we’ve reduced our suspended solids in liquid waste by four or five times.”’ But Doug Bradley, a spokesman for the Cloverly Residents’ Association, a group opposed to expansion plans at Neptune, said he was not impressed with the pollution control devices installed by Neptune when he and others from the group viewed the project at an open house held at Neptune last weekend. “We're still not reassured these devices will cope with the prob- lem. We want to see if the equip- ment will eliminate pollution. We're also concerned about the noise fence they’ve put up. It’s a plywood device, which looks like it’s only three feet high, and | don't think it will do anything,”’ said Bradley. A Index @ Automotives @ Classified Ads B Ecoinfo @ Editorial Page @ Home & Garden 3 Mailbox @ Paui St. Pierre @ What's Going On Weather Friday, sunny with cloudy periods. Highs near -3°C. Saturday, mostly sunny. Low -4°C; high 2°C. Second Class Registration Number 3885 Friday, December 21, 1990 - North Snore News ~ 3 ‘x NEWS photo Neil Lucente WEST VANCOUVER Mayor Mark Sager is calling for the immediate replacement of the aging bridge over the Capilano River in order to meet the future traffic demands of West Vancouver. West Van mayor calls Capilano bridge for new THE PROVINCIAL § gov- ernment should immediately replace the aging Capilano bridge, according to West Vancouver District Mayor Mark Sager. By Surj Rattan News Reporter Sager’s comments follow a re- quest from the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) that West Vancouver provide input on what the district would like to see in a new 1991-92 Provincial Transportation Plan. The Capilano bridge, which connects westbound Marine Drive traffic to West Vancouver, is made up of two steel girder spans. The first of those spans was in- stalled in May 1930. The second was installed following the Capilano River flood of 1949. At its Dec. 4 meeting, West Vancouver Council passed Sager’s motion to tell the GVRD that West Vancouver wants the Capilano bridge replaced and that a new bridge should include addi- tional lanes in both directions to provide priority bus lanes and greater capacity for westbound left and right turn lanes at Taylor Way. The motion also states that West Vancouver wants a_ study done on the possibility of creating a special connector route from the WEST Vancouver Mayor “Mark Sager ... project needs ‘a little political will.” chronically clogged Lions Gat: Bridge to the Upper Levels High- way and that immediate priority be given to route selection and right-of-way protection. Sager also recommended that the provincial government commit to providing additional ferries be- tween Tsawwassen and Nanaimo as soon as possible and Iaunch an immediate investigation into a complete or partial ban on truck traffic on the ferry route between Horseshoe Bay and Nanaimo. While Sager admitted it will take time to implement most of his recommendations, he said the replacement of the Capilano bridge could be done immediately. “The Lions Gate Bridge to Up- per Levels Highway Connector is a longer term project, but the , immediate concern is to replace the old (Capilano) bridge,”’ said Sager. ‘‘That could be done very quickly with a litle political will from Victoria.”* The Capilano River bridge pro- ject was not included in the North Vancouver Transportation Net- work Study, a joint project be- tween North Vancouver District and City aimed at identifying the area's transportation needs until the year 2011. But Sager said he will discuss the issue with North Vancouver District Mayor Murray Dykeman and North Vancouver City Mayor Jack Loucks. “This project (bridge) becomes very important if the connector is not to be built between the Lions Gate Bridge and the Upper Levels Highway within a very few years,’’ said Barry Lambert, West Vancouver director of operations. Sager said the GVRD should investigate the idea of building a special connector from Lions Gate Bridge to the Upper Levels High- way because something must be done to ease traffic congestion around the Marine Drive and Taylor Way area. : ‘It’s particularly bad on Thursday and Friday evenings when Park Royal is open. It blocks traffic on Taylor Way and starts to back the traffic up around the loop,” said Sager. Trees blamed for downed lines From page 1 has been restored to North and West Vancouver, which were hit especially hard by the storm, but that Bowen Island remains a ma- jor trouble spot. He said it was difficult to estimate when power would be fully restored to Bowen. “The widespread outages have been eliminated, but we do have damage done to houses. There’s a lot of repairs going on today. | know we had 20 major circuits out on the North Shore at one time and that hit about 30,000 customers,’’ said Demerse. He added that trees and tree branches falling on Hydro lines caused the majority of the power outages. As chronicled in the Dec. 19 News, trees were toppled all over the North Shore by winds that gusted to over 100 kph in some areas. “It’s (storm) far worse than we had fast February with the snow,”’ Demerse said. ‘Our problem was large trees coming down, I drove along Capilano Road on Tuesday night and there were tree branches down across the read and Hydro wires.’’ He added that B.C. Hydro has asked homeowners to trim tree branches located near Hydro lines, but that some people have ref- used. “We've had a lot of good co- operation from the people in the British Properties. But the bottom line is that there’s a balance be- tween the trees and power lines,”’ said Demerse. ‘‘When you get winds like this, you'll get prob- lems. You can't eliminate all the trees.’” But North Vancouver resident Gary Hee said trees located near his house are actually on North Vancouver District property and that the district should shoulder the reponsibility for uimming the trees. Hee said it would cost him be- tween $300 and $400 to have the trees trimmed himself. “They (district) are refusing to cut them or trim them. I'm sure BOWEN island resident Sandi Whyte ... forced into hotel. they'll (trees) hit ‘the bucket one day. It’s their problem,’’ said Hee. Whyte said she was not surpris- ed at how long it has taken B.C. Hydro to restore power to Bowen fsland, but she added that some- thing has to be done to prevent trees from continually knocking out area power.