FRIDAY JULY 17, 2015 VOL. 42, NO. 25
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Watch for more online at: WWW.BOWENISLANDUNDERCURRENT.COM
Coping with drought
How Islanders are saving water, from the golf-course to the garden
Steamship Days 2015
Photos from last weekend’s festivities
Love blooms on Bowen
A “How I got here” story that starts with a wedding
Protesters gear up for a the boat ride to the north side of Bowyer Island where they waved banners and honked in unison to state their objection to the Woodfibre LNG project. Meribeth Deen, photo
Islanders head into Howe Sound New firehall location to honk in protest of LNG Plans provides equal insurance MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
Close to 40 boats, many from Bowen Island, blasted their horns in unison on North Side of Bowyer Island last weekend to protest the plans for the construction of a $1.7 billion dollar Liquid Natural Gas conversion facility at the former Woodfibre Pulp and Paper mill near Squamish. Bowen Islander and protest organizer, Anton Van Walraven says the event was planned to coincide with the flotilla traditionally organized by the Future of Howe Sound Society, but also, to come close to the release of the provincial Environmental Assessment results. This process, however, has been put on hold since the Squamish First Nation conducted its own environmental review of the project, and has made 26 conditions to be met before the project moves forward. “From our perspective, this is a good thing as it delays everything,” say Van Walraven. “It gives us more time to fight against the project.” Van Walraven spoke at a press conference in Horseshoe Bay prior to the flotilla, and was joined in expressing his concerns by Bowyer Island resident Eoin Finn. Finn mentioned that smoke from nearby forest fires nearly resulted in the protest being delayed, but in the end, these conditions highlighted the necessity of moving forward with it. “Climate change is here and now,” says Finn. “If Christie Clarke’s vision of exporting 80 million tonnes of LNG comes true, we will increase our emissions by 33 percent by 2020.” For Bowen Islander Peter Frinton, who attended the press conference and the flotilla, climate change is definitely an issue of concern with regards to this
project, but the development of British Columbia’s natural gas reserves in and of itself is not a bad thing. “Natural gas is the cleanest of all the fossil fuels, its better than coal and oil. I wish that we had access to it on Bowen, because it is cheaper than electricity and cleaner than wood,” says Frinton. “But when you are dealing with a non-renewable resource such as this one, it should be used wisely, and priced properly. We should be prioritizing local usage before we even consider exporting. Besides, we are not even looking at displacing coal and oil - this would just be an add-on in the countries where we plan to ship it to, and the deal that we’re making on this is just unprecedented and it is ridiculous to think we could know the value of this resource in 25 years.” The deal Frinton is referring to is one negotiated between the government of British Columbia and Petronas, the Malaysian company backing the Pacific Northwest LNG project near Prince Rupert. Provincial Finance Minister Mike de Jong says the project is estimated to create 4,500 construction jobs and could generate $9 billion in government revenues in a decade. A fair trade-off, he has said, for the part of the deal that would allow the company to seek $25 million a year or more in compensation should future governments raise income tax rates on LNG operations. The Green Party candidate for the West Vancouver - Sea to Sky - Sunshine Coast riding, Ken Melamed, was also present at the press conference and flotilla. He says that the deal with Petronas reflects the province’s desperation to keep its Liquid Natural Gas plans afloat. “These tax breaks can essentially be considered subsidies,” says Melamed.
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coverage for whole island MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
Lot #3 of Bowen’s municipal lands is relatively flat, and it is close to the RCMP and paramedics stations. These factors, plus the proximity to homes in Hood Point, led council to vote on this site as the latest location for a new firehall. The old firehall, on Grafton Road near Killarney Lake, was declared seismically unsound in 2002. In 2008, it was decided that instead of upgrading the Grafton road firehall, a new one should be built at a new location, a place where new, larger firetrucks could be housed. As of January 2014, council had decided upon Lot #1 of municipal lands as an ideal location for this project. Beside the public works lot across from the recycling depot, it was considered to be an easy site to develop, with easy access for firetrucks. Homeowners in Hood Point West raised objections to this chosen location, as it would have left their homes more than 8 kilometers from
the station - resulting in higher insurance rates. But following a site-survey of Lot #1, other issues were discovered. Site preparation measures such as necessary removal of organic matter, the building of retaining walls, and creation of an adequate amount of flat land on the site would cost between $600 and $900 thousand dollars. This led the municipality’s Firehall Steering Committee to look into other locations, and committee liason Alison Morse brought a new proposal to council on Monday evening. She asked for permission to go ahead with a site survey of Lot #3. Hood Point West resident Hugh Freeman is thoroughly pleased to hear that this lot is now being considered. “I just think that all homeowners on Bowen should be treated equally,” he says. With unanimous approval of this potential firehall location, Morse says the plan is to come back to council in September with further details about what trails exist there, the land’s topography, and what a firehall might look like if it were located there.