Wawmeesh G. Hamilton, Alberni Valley News, October 21, 2010

Opponents of shipping coal from Port Alberni’s deep-sea port made their point once again at a public meeting this week.

More than 100 people gathered in the basement of the Steelworkers Hall on Montrose Street on Tuesday night.

The meeting was called at the behest of the Port Alberni District Labour Council and Save Our Valley Alliance, both of which wanted to hear about the labour aspect of the project in Port Alberni.

The panel assembled included CoalWatch Comox Valley’s John Snyder, Port Alberni mayor Ken McRae, Alberni-Pacific Rim MLA Scott Fraser and ardent critic Stacey Gaiga.

New to the debate was Transition Towns Port Alberni’s Dan Schubart.

Snyder led the charge with a power-point presentation that touched on the environmental concerns of a coal mine in the Comox Valley.

But he also sketched the familiar concerns of a coal port in the Valley:
noise and light pollution, air quality, storeage safety and property value impact.

CoalWatch has been monitoring the first comment period of the federal environmental process: 1,866 comments have been received to date and 92 per cent of them were opposed to the project, Snyder said.

More than half of the respondents called for a public review of the project.

But federal environment minister Jim Prentice “…doesn’t agree” that one should be held, Snyder said.

City council hasn’t taken a formal position on the project, Mayor Ken McRae said.

But couched within his comments were subtle hints that the project may not benefit the Valley as much as first thought.

McRae “doesn’t want coal coming down by main street, it must come by rail,” he said.

If trucking is utilized then “I can’t see...jobs happening here.”

McRae visited a mineral loading facility in Port McNeill and found that there were only two longshoreman working there.

“We don’t have longshoremen in Port Alberni anymore,” he said.

A press release circulated at the forum noted that the project will create 200 construction jobs, 335 mine-port-and transportation jobs as well as 500 indirect jobs in Port Alberni and the Comox Valley.

Truck drivers, long shoremen, loader operators and labourers would be needed in Port Alberni.

reporter@albernivalleynews.com

Source