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Tuesday, April 1, 2014 X Volume 27 No. 37
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TNRD director stands by mine-blast claims By Cam Fortems STAFF REPORTER
cam@kamloopsthisweek.com
Despite public assurances and scientific reports from staff at New Afton mine, a regional district director is standing by Cherry Creek residents’ claims that everything from foundation damage to household items falling to the floor is due to underground blasts at the New Gold operation. Scott Davidson, environ-
ment and social-responsibility manager at New Afton, told the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board of directors on Friday, March 28, that testing at two households has found blasting below levels of human perception. Following complaints, the latest in December, the mine contracted out testing at two Cherry Creek homes, located about 2.5 kilometres from the mine. “We didn’t pick up anything
on measuring equipment but background [non-mine vibration],” Davidson said. He presented information to the board showing blasting effects measured in peak-particle velocity (PPV). Those tests showed PPV measurements below one millimetre per second — lower than what people can perceive. Damage to buildings occurs at levels between 20 and 51 PPV — levels not found by consultants.
Davidson came to the board meeting after Ronaye Elliott, director for Area J, said residents reported blasting damage to a foundation and items falling to the floor. Following the presentation, Elliott defended her characterizations of blasting in an interview with reporters. “People in Cherry Creek were asking the questions. I brought them forward,” she said. “Now they’ve got their answer
. . . I have to go with what people tell me.” Davidson said monitoring at the second home remains ongoing. An engineering firm hired by the mine determined a cracked foundation was unrelated to the mine. “The structure was quite old,” he said. Davidson said blasting occurs about 600 metres below ground and its effects are absorbed by depth.
Driver in crosswalk death to learn fate
FENCED IN AT JOHN TOD Brothers Wylie and Liam Rowen practise lunges with instructors Samantha McPhee and Connor McKay during the Kamloops Fencing Club’s weekend event at the John Tod Community Centre that exchanged a lesson in fencing for a donation to the Kamloops Food Bank or the YMCA-YWCA’s Strong Kids Campaign. The association has teamed up with the Y to offer fencing lessons to the public, beginning later this month. For more information, go online to kamloopsfencing.com. Allen Douglas/KTW
A Kamloops man accused of driving into and killing a woman in a downtown crosswalk in 2012 is expected to learn his fate today (April 1). Donald Charles Isadore is slated to return to Kamloops provincial court to hear a judge’s decision following a two-day trial in February. The 63-year-old was charged after Valerie Brook was struck and killed in the crosswalk at Sixth Avenue and Victoria Street on Nov. 21, 2012. Brook, 66, was walking across Victoria Street on a green light as Isadore was turning left from Sixth Avenue. At trial, an RCMP collision reconstruction specialist said Brook’s body was thrown between 6.9 metres and 9.5 metres after being struck, noting there was no evidence of the vehicle having tried to brake. Taking the stand in his own defence, Isadore said he didn’t see Brook until it was too late to brake, blaming the dark and rainy conditions. Isadore has a lengthy history of driving offences — particularly driving while prohibited. Less than three weeks before Brook was killed, on Nov. 2, 2012, Isadore was handed a 30-day jail sentence and fined $500 for a separate driving-whileprohibited conviction, which also saw him placed on a two-year driving ban. In 2011, he was jailed for 14 days for another driving-while-prohibited conviction. He is also facing two counts each of driving while prohibited and operating a motor vehicle while disqualified dating back to separate incidents a short time after Brooks’ death — on Jan. 4, 2013, and Jan. 9, 2013.
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