3 - Friday, October 27, 1989 - North Shore News Pedestrian struck A 14-year-old boy was struck by a south-bound vehicle while crossing Lonsdale Avenue mid-block he- tween 12th and 13th streets, Tues- day. An ambulance and the fire department were called to the scene and accident victim Darcy Argue of North Vancouver was sent to Lions Gate Hospital. No charges have been Jaid ayainst the driver of the vehicie. upland owner of the property fronting on Pacific’s fish farm. Pacific Aquaculture general manager Jim Malamas told the hearing his company’s fish farm STRONG PUBLIC support for North Vancouver District Council’s proposed bylaw amendment that would ban fish farming as an allowable use in PRO (Parks, Recreation and Open space)-zoned lands was evident at Tuesday night’s reconvened public hearing. Speakeis favoring the bylaw outnumbered its opponents two to one, and «of the eight speakers op- posing the change in zoning, six had some business connection to one or other of the two fish farms currently operating in Indian Arm. Detlef Schraidt, president of the 180-member Indian Arm Ratepayers Association, said the amendment was ‘‘definitely ap- proved by the association.” Much of the hearing’s debate centred on concerns over possible water pollution froza fish farming operations. Said Cascades, Indian Arm resi- dent Cindy Madsen, ‘“When I can sit and watch a log through a complete tidal change not go past the view from my window, there is not enough flush to flush out the effluent that comes from those fish farms, and they are further up the Arm than I am.” In a written submission, Patrick Bruskiewich, a member of the district’s task force on environ- ment issues, echoed Madsen’s con- cerns about Indian Arm flushing action. “There is poor water exchange By MARTIN MILLERCHIP Contributing Writer between Indian Arm and its adja- cent bodies of water. Only a small portion of its surface waters leaves the Arm with each southerly ebb tide. Water at depth is exchanged no more than once or twice a year,” Bruskiewich stated. Because the water acts as a sink for the byproducts of fish farming — feces, nitrogenous wastes and other organic materials such as unused feed — Bruskiewich main- tains that, ‘‘these insoluble bypreducts tend to accumulate in the vicinity of the fish farm in the sedimenis as well as in the lower food chain through bioaccumula- tion.” Pacific Aquaculture Ltd., which operates one of the two Indian Arm fish farms, acknowledged that of the 300,000 kg. of feed that will be used to rear the current stock of 100,000 chinook, 78,000 kg. will be returned to the en- vironment as fecal matter. In addi- tion there will be some 15,000 kgs. of uncaien feed. Pacific plans to expand its photo Neil Lucente BRIAN KYLE, 11, feeds the fish at Pacific Aquaculture Ltd.’s open house held Sunday. Approximately 50 people attended the event. Indian Arm fish farmers are challenging North Vancouver District Council to document claims that the farms have 2 negative impact on the environ- ment. operation from the current four pens to 20 pens at its new site two kilometres north of Best Point on the west side of Indian Arm, al- though the district has voted to rescind previous approval of the expansion. Strato Malamas, a director and partner of Pacific Aquaculture, told the hearing the Vancouver Port Corp. had informed him that the district has no jurisdiction over the waterways of Indian Arm. “That is federal property,’’ said Malamas. But Bruskiewich’s report took a different view. “If a proposed fish farm affects the riparian rights of an upland owner,’’ it stated, ‘‘the provincial government will not issue a licence or a lease unless the upland owner provides written consent.”’ North Vancouver District is the Funds approved for dam study THE GREATER Vancouver Water District’s (GVWD) board of directors approved $755,000 Wednesday for the second phase of a study into the stability of the two major North Shore dams under normal conditions and under such extreme conditions as those created by an earthquake. In addition the board adopted a motion put forward by North Vancouver District Mayor Marilyn Baker, who is also the Greater Vancouver Regional District's deputy chairman, to lobby the provincial government for assistance in funding the assess- ment of the Cleveland and Seymour Falls dams and to urge the province to seek funding for the project from the federal gov- ernment under the Joint Emergen- cy Planning Program (SEPP). Baker said after the GVWD meeting the complexity and cost of assessing the dams and coor- dinating the planning for what would happen in the event of a major catastrophe such as an ear- thquake made support from the . provincial and federal governments By TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporter imperative. “The disaster potential is con- siderable after the fact,’’ Baker said. “This kind of planning is ex- tremely detailed and complex. We're talking about systems that provide water to half of B.C." Added Baker: *‘The thing that is of concern to me is that (JEPP) funds are available for this type of thing and other provinces are get- ting them, Why isn’t B.C.?”” Phase two of the dams study follows the $300,000 phase one, which was initiated to determine the need for more complex dam stability analyses and to identify which areas of the two structures required further study. John Morse, the chief engineer for the GVYWD, said Thursday both dams have been well main- tained and ‘‘are in excellent condi- tion, and were built with the best technology of their day. it’s just that technology has moved on since then.”” - Phase two, he said, will focus on such factors as seismic stability and include on-site drilling to determine dam foundations and their integrity. The seven-month project will provide the information needed to complete operating and maintenance manuals for both dams. Any upgrading considered necessary to bring the two struc- tures up to higher technological standards will also be detailed. Morse said the two dams have different characteristics. Cieveland Dam, opened in 1954, is concrete and sits in a rock can- yon. Seymour Falls, on the other hand, initially built in 1961, is made of concrete and earth. Morse said part of the phase-two ° study will assess the type of soil beneath the Seymour dam to determine how susceptible the structure would be to the liquifica- tion of some soils during an earth- quake. The Capilano reservoir behind the Cleveland Dam holds approx- imately twice the volume of useable drinking water than does the reservoir behind the Seymour Falls Dam. While last week’s earthquake in San Francisco makes the study of the two dams extremely timely, the project was started prior to that Oct. 17 disaster. Phase one funding was approved in March, and the initial request for phase two funding was made in early October. While the summary report to the GVWD ‘requesting phase two funding stated that the cost of engineering and construction con- sidered necessary to bring the dams up to current standards ‘‘may be substantial,”’ Morse said the extent posed no pollution threat to the area: ‘‘My experience has been that there is no negative effect on the eavironment surrounding our fish farm. The sea life is far more prevalent in our area with flounders and perch, starfish, sea cucumbers, crab and all that sort of thing.” Malamas also pointed out that Pacific Aquaculture would be writ- ing cheques for $1.6 million in the next 18 months. “We believe that the financial injection (into the local economy) is considerable from basically a small operation,’’ he said. Dr. Larry Allbright, from the Institute of Agricultural Research at Simon Fraser University and a part owner of Silver Spring Aquaculture Corp., whose fish farm is focated south of Croker Island in the upper portion of In- dian Arm and is licensed for 12 pens, called on council to initiate several studies. These would look at: e the effect of carbon, phospho- rous and nitrogen additions from feed on the eco-systems surroun- See Fish Page 5 NORTH Vancouver District Marilyn Baker ...why isn’t B.C. getting funds? of how much work, if any, is needed will be determined by the phase-two study. Hydrological studies on the two dams have concluded that the “‘probable maximum flood" for the Cleveland Dam is higher than was originally determined when the dam was designed. The cost to modify the dam’s spillway to allow that higher flood level through has been estimated at $350,000.