Gypsy moth trapped in

Friday, September 4, 1992 - North Shore News - 3

West Vancouver

Trapping program finds moths eisewhere in Vancouver port area

AGRICULTURE CANADA/’S gypsy moth trapping pro- gram on the North Shore has yielded a single moth in the wake of the controversial aerial and ground spraying pro-

gram area.

The male moth was trapped in West Vancouver’s Sentinel Hill area.

To protect the privacy of the homeowners who have allowed traps to be placed on their proper- ty, Agriculture Canada will not

. release specific addresses of where moths are discovered.

The moth trapped in West Van- couver has been sent to an Agriculture Canada lab for DNA

carried out this spring around the Vancouver port

By A.P. McCredie News Reporter

testing to determine whether it is an Asian cr European gypsy moth.

Gypsy moths have been found every year on the North Shore since a single male European gyp- sy moth was trapped in the British Properties in 1988.

“Anything we say now, before the results of the tests are back, would be pure speculation,”’ said pariculture Canada biologist Jon

The results of the latest gypsy moth find are expected by the end of the month.

- Bell said that more traps have been set in the Sentinel Hill area since the discovery of the first moth earlier last month.

The traps are scented with a synthetic pheromone that duplicates the scent given off by a female gypsy moth.

According to Bell, if a male is caught, there is a good chance

EWS photo Paul McGrath

- AIRCARE.. Program. technician Chris Cinnamon enters mode! information for a vehicle being tested at the North Shore’s emission inspection station on McKeen Avenue.

|NV AirCare station opens

t THE NORTH Shore’s AirCare inspection station . opened for business on Sept. 1, and though kinks in the computer system on its second day of operations caused a 45-minute lineup, the processing of. vehicles

is now flowing smoothly. “We did. have a problem “with some. of the computer data ‘collectors first thing Wednesday morning, .bu:. after that was looked after the 4: system was running smoothly,” * said: Scott Latham, the public :. information manager with Eb- ~.co-Hamilton, the provincial ~;eomtractor for the AirCare program. ; .: Latham also asked that, for

“2 the first two months or so, on- ly people who have September

or October licence plate tags on.

\ their vehicles should come to “the station. ‘<The first few months will be : slower because the technicians that operate the AirCare sta- tion: are still relatively new at the job.

““Akhough the AirCare pro-.

gram is modelled after suc- cessful programs that have “been operating for more. than two decades in the United States, the. British Columbia program is the most technolog- ically advanced in. North America.

On the first day of testing in the Lower Mainland, over 3,000 ‘cars and light trucks were tested at the 11 AirCare inspec-

- tion. stations. Of those vehicles, ~ 2A% failed the inspection.

Vehicles that must be in- spected.wunder the AirCare pro-

_ gram in order to have their in- surance renewed are: |.

Ey A.P. McGradie News Reporter

@ passenger vehicles and trucks 5,000 kg gross vehicle weight and less; @ motor homes of 5,000 kg net weight and less,

Excluded from the testing

e: @ vehicles being licensed for the first time in British Col- umbia; @ current model newer vehicles; e electric-powered vehicles; @ vehicles with vintage or col- lector.plates; ® motorcycles, snowmobiles, amphibious and_ all-terrain vehicles. Vehicles. undergo a_ three- stage inspection at the station. The first step logs the age, model, registration and licence of vehicles into a computer. From this information, a technician determines what emission-control corponents were originally installed on the véetiicie and the ‘‘maximum al- Jowable”’ emission limits based on the manufacturer’s’ original performance specifications. : ‘Vehicles with’ a model year of 1988 and newer. must have all the originally installed com- ponents in place. - The component check for

year and

“older is

vehicles of 1987 vintage and limited to the evaporative canister, the posi- tive crankcase ventilation system, the thermostatic. air cleaner and the fuel cap (which must prevent acceptance of leaded fuel).

In the second year of the AirCare program, however, all vehicles, regardless of age, must have all factory equip- ment installed.

The inspection’s second stage entails a sexsor exhaust pipe test at three’ settings: a simu- lated drive at 50 km/h, in neutral at 2,500 rpm and. at idle speed.

Also, as a complimentary check, the vehicle’s alignment is examined.

In the final inspection stage, the vehicle owner is given a computer printout of the results.

If a vehicle fails, the repairs © needed will be itemized.

All failed vehicles must be repaired at one of the 200 cer- tified AirCare repair centres in the Lower Mainland.

The vehicle must then be re-inspected

The province has set repair cost limits for emission repairs at $200.

The cost of inspection is $15 (plus $1.05 GST) and must be paid in cash.

Current Autopian licence and insurance documents must also be presented.

The North Shore inspection station is located at 1333 McKeen Ave. just off the south foot of Pemberton Avenue in

- North Vancouver.

that a female is in the area.

But the Agriculture Canada biologist reiterated that the aerial and ground spraying program is being deemed a resounding suc- cess

“There are any number of possible answers as to how the moth found in West Vancouver got there,’ said Bell. “It could have flown there from outside the sprayed area, been attached to a vehicle that drove into West Van from somewhere elise or have been mature before the spraying pro- gram commenced.”’

Agriculture Canada has trapped 129 gynsy moths so far this year in Lower Mainland areas outside of the sprayed area.

In Richmond — the area of highest concentration of trapped moths — 64 males, three females, and nine egg masses have been found this summer.

The tests to determine whether the moths are the Asian or Euro- pean variety will take a few weeks.

The Asian gypsy moths differ from the European gypsy moth in that the female Asian moth can

24-hour

fly, making it much more difficult to control,

The voracious appetites of the moths pose a serious threat to Lower Mainland forests and lumber shipping operations.

The first Asian gypsy moths ar- rived in the Lower Mainland in May 1991 on freighters from Siberia.

The ships had entered the port to load grain at Vancouver and North Shore terminals.

As of this July, any ship that | has originated or spent time in any port on the east coast of Russia — a region with a high in- cidence of Asiar. gypsy moths — must be inspected at Constance Bank near Victoria before being allowed into the Vancouver port. -

“‘We are not willing to take the risk and let another ship get: in and cause an infestation of Asian gypsy moths,’’ Bell said.

Last month a gypsy moth egg mass was discovered aboard a vessel.

The ship was subsequently taken 12 miles out to sea, cleaned, reinspected, and then allowed ac- cess to the Vancouver port.

sailing

experiment to end on Tuesday

A CRITIC ‘of the B.C. Ferry Corp.’s (BCFC) 24-hour sailix;;; schedule said she doesn’t think the Crown corpora- tion will seek the views of Horseshoe Bay residents when

deciding whether all-night sailings on the Horseshoe Bay- to-Nanaimo route should be permanent.:

The BCFC started its 24-hour ferry schedule between Horseshoe Bay and Nanaimo for a 75-day trial period on June 25. The ex- perimental sailing program is scheduled to end on Sept. 8.at 5

a.m.

BCFC spokesman Bill Bouchard said the ferry corporation will now review the program to decide

if it should be implemented per-'

manently. -

He added that Horseshoe Bay residents and West Vancouver District will be consulted before any final decision is made.

But Ingrid Fischer, spokesman for the Horseshoe Bay group Stop Overnight Sailings (SOS), said she

does not think the BCFC will ask’

Horseshoe Bay residents for their views on the subject.

“No way were we ever given any consideration. At no time did they (BCFC) ever respond to us, and I don’t see how or why they would respond to us now.

“If they don’t renew. it (24- hour sailings), great, but if they do renew it I don’t think we'll be contacted,”’ said Fischer. .

But Bouchard said. the BCFC has already contacted West Van- couver District for its views on the 24-hour schedule and also plans to ask Horseshoe Bay residents for their input on the issue.

“We have written to the municipality te get their co-opera- tion. We have done sound tests,

-BCFC officials and

By Surj Flattan News Reporter

passenger. surveys. We'll look at the. finances and the ‘whole pic- ture,’ said Bouchard.

“We've been getting complaints . and positive feedback on it, and - those .comments - will. all go into the final package.”’

He added that the final decision on the 24-hour sailing program’. wiil be made by the BCFC’s board of directors. wo

That final decision, may be made by October.

Last month, West - Vani Mayor Mark Sager said he’ and: four other mayors want the ‘BCFC to establish a permanent advisory-’ committee that would. include ° the five .. mayors whose communities are. affected by ferry traffic.

Sager added that. he is especially - concerned about safety at the - Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal. since the BCFC implemented its . 24-hour ferry schedule.

The last series of 24-hour ferry. sailings between Horseshoe Bay .. and Nanaimo began on Sept. 3- and will continue until $ a.m. on Sept. 8. _.

Meanwhile, Bouchard said the ’ BCFC’s full summer schedule will” be in place right through the up-~ coming Labor Day long weekend. 2

he said, .

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