Shayne Morrow, Alberni Valley Times, October 21, 2010

Little support among 100 who attended public meeting, but company CEO says upcoming reviews will ease concerns

The Raven Underground Coal Project is facing some serious roadblocks, judging by the response at Tuesday evening's public meeting at the Steelworkers' Hall.

The event was hosted by the Port Alberni and District Labour Council and the Save Our Valley Alliance, and, while it was billed as a neutral venue, the overwhelming majority of the 100 people who attended were opposed to the project.

"I've been to a lot of meetings around the Island, in a lot of different ridings, talking about this," Alberni-Pacific Rim MLA Scott Fraser said. "I don't see any support for this project anywhere."

Fraser's address followed a Powerpoint presentation by CoalWatch Comox Valley president John Snyder, outlining a litany of negative environmental effects he believes the mine would bring about. The close-up image of a sea-run cutthroat trout, native to Cowie Creek near the proposed project, loomed large in his presentation.

According to Snyder, drainage over the proposed Raven mine tailings would inevitably kill off Cowie Creek.

"Goodbye, little friend," he said, switching slides.

Snyder said that during the first phase of the public comment period (federal), 1,866 comments were received, with 96.2% opposed. More significantly, Snyder said, 906 respondents called for a detailed panel review, which federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice has the ability to call, based on the level of public concern.

"I would think that number of people calling for a panel review would be significant enough public concern, but apparently Mr. Prentice doesn't agree," Snyder said, adding however, that the minister has said he will "keep the door open" on holding a further review.

Compliance Coal Corporation community liaison Candy-Lea Chickite and project manager Dan Berkshire arrived at the event with a fresh news release, accompanied by a fact sheet detailing the amount of investment and the number of jobs which the Raven Coal project would generate.

While still holding out support for the option of transporting coal by rail, which would require tens of millions of dollars of federal and provincial infrastructure money, Port Alberni Mayor Ken McRae said he is not impressed with the number of jobs promised on this side of the Hump, perhaps 15 to 20 at the unloading facility and a portion of the estimated 50 transportation jobs.

McRae said the city will not take an official position on the project until next month, when a joint federal and provincial report is released, but he acknowledged that public sentiment is almost uniformly negative.

"We provided 12 statements to the joint working group, and we will get some answers on Nov. 26," he said.

On Wednesday, Compliance CEO John Tapics said he was aware of the strong popular opposition to his company's plans.

"All of that will be addressed in the environmental reviews that we have to file with the federal and provincial government," Tapics said.

According to Tapics, the project would create 335 direct full-time jobs across Vancouver Island, as well as about 500 spinoff jobs.

On Tuesday night, Fraser suggested that, because the proponents have indicated they will not pay for necessary transportation upgrades to accommodate heavy truck traffic, it amounts to a massive subsidy to the company.

"The taxpayer will become an investor without the possibility of receiving any dividend," Fraser said.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," Tapics said, adding that most transportation infrastructure is paid for with public money: the public dividend is in jobs, investment and tax revenues. On the issue of transporting the coal by rail, Fraser said the company advised him they would take that route "if it was cost-effective."

"Of course it's going to be cost effective, they don't have to spend millions of dollars [on upgrading the rail system]," Fraser said.

Tapics, however, pointed out that his company would have to invest millions of dollars in creating a private spur line and a loading facility for rail cars.

"That's being worked on by Southern Rail. They have come up with some concepts," Tapics said, adding that the rail operator is also engineering a rail loop for the Port Alberni waterfront.

Tapics firmly denies that the coal mine would kill Cowie Creek or harm shellfish production in Baynes Sound, pointing out that the B.C. Shellfish Growers Association has been a partner in the consultation process.

© Alberni Valley Times 2010

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