Keri Sculland, Alberni Valley Times, June 02, 2011

Residents fill Alberni Athletic Hall Thursday afternoon to learn more about proposed coal project and voice concerns

From the moment the Alberni Athletic Hall opened its doors to the public, the high number of people streaming in was a clear reflection of just how important the coal meeting is to the residents of the Alberni Valley.

Walking through the front doors, representatives from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency were prepared to greet people and hand off a number of printed documents for them to read. A box, situated near the entrance to the gym, let people sign up to ask their questions to a panel of experts from the provincial and federal governments, along with representatives from the Raven Underground Coal Project.

"We think it's important to get people engaged," CEAA communications advisor Maxine Leger-Haskell said, adding that public meetings help to gather information needed to predict impacts on the community. "A lot of the local information is important. People who live and breathe here know anything that's specific to this area."

Inside the gym, a number of displays were set up to help people learn more about the project. Chris Alemany sat in the media area, broadcasting live. On the far side, a number of iPads were set up to allow people to give their comments directly online.

"Part of it is about people coming to ask questions," Leger-Haskell said. "It's that opportunity for people to have that face-to-face interaction."

John Tapics, president and CEO of Compliance Energy, the company spearheading the Raven Underground Project, was on hand for the question and comment period, which began at 6 p.m.

"It's important in this process to capture everybody's perspectives," he explained. "This is defining what the scope of the environmental assessment should be."

He said it is important to hear from people who think exporting coal out of Port Alberni is a good economic choice and those who think it is a poor environmental decision.

"We want to find out what Port Alberni has to say about the proposed project," he added.

The public meeting began at 2 p.m., took a short break from 5 p.m. and reopened at 6 p.m. for questions and comments.

KSculland@avtimes.net

© Alberni Valley Times 2011