Reservations remain on Britannia landfill proposal Brady Fotheringham Contributing Writer BRITANNIA Beach residents will find out in the next few weeks whether the old Britannia Mine site behind their town will be decontaminated once and for all. Copper Beach Estates Ltd. ran by a West Vancouver busi- nessman, is hoping for government approval that would see the construction of a lime waste ueatment plant and commercial landfill at the mine. Robert MeCandiess, a mining, specialise with Environment Canada, said if privare industry fails to clean up Britannia Mine then the provincial government will be put in the unenviable position of spending tens of millions of dollars ro do the job itself. The mine, which suffers from acid rock drainage, has been touted by Environment Canada as the most polluted site in North America. Over once billion pounds (453 million kilograms) of copper were extracted from seven open ore pits and countless miles’ of underground tunnels during the mine’s lifespan from 1905 to i974. These pits, or glory holes, now act like a funnel diverting the mountain’s two metres of rain cach year into the underground workings. Elevated levels of copper, iron, cadmium, aluminum and zinc pour into the mine shafts working their way down to the main underground tunnel, 2 20,000 ft (6.1 km) long minc tunnel which dumps the effluent into Howe Sound. Although not toxic to humans, the effluent is fazal to the chum salmon fry and chinook salmon smolts that migrate from the Squamish River. Up to five million salmon die cach year as they swim past the polluted marine habitat near Britannia Beach. An internal Ministry of Environment memo from Jan 27, 1993 called the problem “a slecping giant that we should have acted on years ago. It is recommended that the ministry support any measure which would see funding of acid mine drainage remediation measures at this site. ” Copper Beach Estates has proposed trucking metal-laden landfill up from Lower Mainland construction sites to the Janc Basis pit at the top of the mine to help finance the cleanup of the site. Copper Beach Estates expects a final deci- sion about its permit applications from the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Environment Canada and Department of Fisheries and Oceans by the end of August. Tim Drummond, president of Copper Beach Estates told the News Friday “it’s game over if a permit is not issued in the next six weeks.” Flowing down through the mine and under the Sea-to-Sky Highway into Howe Sound, Britannia Creek is polluted with sulphide met- als leaching from the groundwater. An old school parking lot beside the creek is devoid of all plant life, indicative of the acid mine drainage problem that plagues the com- munity. Bleach-like stains on the town’s rocky shoreline reveal telltale signs of the enviroa- Friday, July 36, 1999 - North Shor: News — 3 ACID rock drainage, which is toxic to marine life in Howe Sound, flows through a 20,000-foot tunnel under the old mine site. The effiuent is the single worst environmental problem of any mine site in North America. LANDALL ean/ Ay Upper Jans O° mental pollution that Britannia Beach residents have put up with for years. “There are huge areas devoid of life in Howe Sound,” said McCandless. Crities charge that the nwe previous owners of the Britannia site, the Anaconda Mining Co. and the Adantic Richfield Company (ARCQ), were aware of changing environmental laws in the United States. Fearful of more stringent laws being enact- ed in Canada, Anaconda sold uhe property before they were sad- died with the liabiliry of cleaning up the mine. Drummond said that when his company purchased the 1,800-acre site in 1989 he wasn’t fully aware of his legal respon- sibilities pertaining to the cleanup of the mine. He later found out that the only way Copper Beach Estates could ever success: fully develap the site would be to clean up the mine first.Tanac Development Corporation later bought a portion of the site and developed the Furry Creck golf course. “This is the strangest of things to sec what man can do to this site,” Drummond said of the mine site he now regrets buying. Drummond said Copper Beach Estates needs this project to be approved if it is to pay off an $)1 million mortgage on the property. Fortunately for Copper Beach Estates and the residents of Britannia Beach, the Fraser Basin Council, with che prodding of Brent Leigh from the district of Squamish, got involved in bringing the various parties together by facilitating a pub- lic hearing process this spring. The council, which examines solutions to sustainability issues, released its report June 26 oudining the con- cerns of residents, environmental groups and municipalities. But objections to the mine reclamation project remain, primarily from the Sierra Legal Defense Fund, the Environmental Mining Council, West See Highway page Vi JUDGMENT time at Britannia Mine. A decision is pending for a cleznup pian that propeses: installing 2 waste treat- ment plant and commercial fandfiil. RCMP retrieve theft suspect fro lan Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter dangelo@nsnews.com Search for former NV resident ends in London Towers in West Vancouver. Norwegian authorities tracked Nafisi to his home. By the time of a second visit by Norwegian police two months later, Nafisi had fled the country and gone to England. A North Vancouver RCMP officer left for England yesterday to bring back a former North Vancouver resi- dent accused in a $51,568.08 theft in 1992. Const. Norm Rooney, of the economic crime unit, was sent to London to get Ramin Nafisi, 31. He is in police custody as part of a Canadian extradition order. Nafisi waived his extradition hearing and is returning to Canada voluntarily after a year of extradition proceedings involving ‘Canada and England. Nafisi is charged with stealing $51,568.08 from Perestroika Products Ltd. The company made Russian dumplings and had a North Vancouver factory at the time of the alleged offence in 1992. Natisi had a Vancouver-based company called Naff Consultants. He worked as a part-time bookkeeper and did Perestrioka’s books. Police alleged that Nafisi stole 31 cheques from Perestroika Products. He allegedly wrote cheques to himself through his company using the Perestroika company cheques. Nafisi was arrested, charged and then released. Police then received information that Nafisi was “skipping town.” His house was empty, his family was gone and Nafisi had disappeared. Coincidentally, a North Vancouver RCMP fraud investigator reading the North Shore News’ auto classified section came across an ad asking perspective buyers of a car to “call Ramin.” Local Mounties followed up the ad and found Nafisi jiving with his mother ar Park Royal oot was re-arrested on a warrant in January 1993. A bail hearing was held so that a judge could decide whether Nafisi should be held in custody pending the outcome of his charge. Nafisi was released from police custody by a North Vancouver provincial court judge. The judge ordered Nafisi to tum in his passport to the court the next day. He didn’t, according to police. Nafisi chen disappeared. Police say Nafisi fled to Norway soon after. Former North Vancouver Mountie Cpl. Gene Slobod traced Nafisi’s Norway address when Slobod was serving in the former Yugoslavia in 1993. Slcbod had a co-worker who was a Norwegian potice officer while the two were involved in United Nations pcacekceping duties. Nafisi next turned up in Chicago in September 1996 where American customs offi- cials discovered he was wanted on 2 Canada-wide arrest warrant. Because it was the weekend, a special provi- sional warrant needed for U.S. authoritics to detain Nafisi for Canada could not be obtained. American authorities refused Nafisi entrance to the United States and sent him back to England. : Before sending Nafisi back, United States authorities obtained his address in Surrey, England, and passed the information to Canadian authoritics. Nafisi lioids Canadian and British passports. He has no criminal record and was born in Birmingham, England. He is slated for a court appearance in North Vancouver on Tuesday. ep