Podunk Below the Masthead (Tuesday, March 9, 2010)

The city seeks input on waste water, Prince Rupert has a roll up the rim winner and Bill Belsey is back in town hoping to get the city to talk things over with Sun Wave, some of the items of note from Tuesday's news cycle.

Daily News, Front page, headline story
COMMUNITY INVITED TO COMMENT ON WASTE MANAGEMENT PLANS-- City residents are invited to an open house on Thursday, when they can look over and offer up suggestions regarding the plans for the city's move towards secondary waste water treatment. The Daily News outlined some of the options under examination and available for discussion on Thursday evening. The open house is split up into three parts the Open House preview from 4:30 to 5:30, a formal presentation from  5:30 to 6:30 and a question and answer session from 6:30 to 7:30. The Thursday Open House takes place at Prince Rupert City Hall.

Some confusion over the status of fish treaty negotiations after Fisheries Minister Gail Shea announced last week that the federal government was putting off any discussion until the results of the inquiry into declining salmon stocks was completed. With some stake holders having found that there wasn't much progress taking place anyways, with concerns over Skeena stocks for 2010 they were hopeful of finding remedies to the current situation on the North Coast. The Daily provides some background on the issue in Tuesday's edition.

The rumours of a Roll Up the Rim winner in Prince Rupert have been proven true, as Jessica Wesleyson celebrates her memorable cup of tea and the accompanying Toyota Rav4 that will soon come with it. After filling out some paperwork and sending off the prize winning cup tab, she now waits further word on when the vehicle valued at 32,750 dollars will arrive in the city.

The Sports section freatured a look at the ongoing action at the All Native Junior Basketball Tournament taking place all this week at a number of local gymnasiums.

(Archive for Daily News Articles for March 9, 2010 )


Community invited to comment on waste management plans
She rolled up the rim and won
Fish treaty talks will await salmon inquiry
WFP raises concerns on new agreement
Thursday night movie - Broken Embraces

The Northern View
Sun Wave seeking a solution to avoid litigation with the City -- Bill Belsey is back in town, the one time MLA for the North Coast who has had extensive time spent with various versions of the pulp mill at Watson Island is the apparent point man for Sun Wave, as they seek to settle their differences with the City of Prince Rupert out of court. The Northern View brings us up to speed as that seemingly never ending saga continues (see article here)

MLA blasts budget, says it contains nothing for rural B.C.-- North Coast MLA Gary Coons offers up his thoughts on the recent Liberal budget from Victoria, a document that Coons suggests leaves little of thought for the North coast and other rural areas of the province (see article here)

BC Ferries responds to petition -- BC Ferries offers up some hope that they may soon be able to meet the wishes of the residents of Haida Gwaii to see more of the Northern Expedition on the Hecate Strait crossing. Though it will only be during the winter months, in the remainder of the year the Northern Adventure will continue to make the regular calls to the Islands (see article here)

CFTK TV 7 News
Shames Mountain Closes Sunday -- Low snow levels leave the operators of Shames Mountain with little choice but to end the ski season on March 14 (see article here)

CBC News British Columbia, Daybreak North
No new items were posted to the Daybreak North website for Tuesday.

The Daily News
Front page, headline story
Community invited to comment on waste management plans
 By Monica Lamb-Yorski
The Daily News
Tuesday, March 9, 2010

It may be a dirty word, but wastewater is being discussed in a good way.

Prince Rupert’s harbour has been the recipient of raw sewage for over a century. Some of the city’s sewer system was constructed prior to WWI and some prior to WWII.

Major infrastructure work was done in l959 and 1960 to replace and extend many trunk and lateral sewers.

According to the City’s website, “In the late 1970s, the Prince Rupert sewage system consisted of twelve individual sub-catchment areas, all discharging directly into Prince Rupert Harbour without treatment.

At the present time only the core urban area sewage system receives preliminary wastewater treatment through the use of comminutors, which are units that grind up sewage solids prior to discharge directly to Prince Rupert Harbour without treatment.”

To address sewage concerns, the City is developing a Liquid Waste Management Plan to act as a guide over the next few decades as the City moves towards implementation of secondary wastewater treatment.

On March 11, the day after the City’s one hundredth birthday, the community will have the opportunity to see a presentation of the plan’s Stage II Draft Summary Report and give feedback.

An Open House will occur between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m., there will be a formal presentation from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and a question and answer period between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m.

The Daily News has had a sneak preview of the report.

Within the document are various options surrounding single, double or triple facilities for centralized treatment. Possible locations include Hays and Morse Creeks, Ritchie Point, the Industrial Park and Watson Island.

Under the single facility options, Hays Creek would require the installation of new pump stations and gravity sewers to accommodate approximately 40 percent of the City’s total wastewater.

In its analysis, the steering committee has listed advantages and disadvantages of the Hays Creek site.

While solids would be treated onsite, the overall treatment would be taking place in the City’s core.

“Resource recovery, such as energy recovery from organic solids, is potentially viable,” states the report while, “land may be difficult and more expensive to acquire.”

With the Port Edward option, the former pulp mill, located 15 km outside the City, could be used.

Existing tankage at the former pulp mill industrial wastewater treatment facility could be utilized and from there wastewater would be pumped to the Port Edward facility.

Again advantages outlined in the report include existing tankage, treatment taking place away from a highly populated area, and the fact that solids would be likely to be treated onsite and not require hauling elsewhere.

Under its list of disadvantages, the report lists the cost of conveying wastewater from the City to Watson Island, that existing tankage may limit the treatment process selection, and the tanks would be likely to require 
refurbishment.

The third location, the Industrial Park, has the advantage of being located away from the City. The land would be cheaper to acquire than the Hays Creek option, and solids could be treated onsite.

Again, there are the costs involved with conveying the wastewater to a centralized site and then to the Industrial Park. “It will likely require an effluent pump station and force main to Harbour outfall,” cites the report.

Under the two-treatment facilities option, the first one, Hays Creek and Morse Creek, recognizes the fact that 40 percent of the City’s total wastewater is already discharged through Hays Creek at Outfall I.

There would be lower costs for conveyance than having a single facility at Hays Creek, Watson Island or the Industrial Park.

An additional advantage would be, “resource recovery, such as heat recovery is potentially viable,” states the report.

In its notes on disadvantages, the report points to the location of Hays Creek within City limits, the cost of the land and the reality that “solids would like likely be treated at a central facility and requiring hauling offsite.”

For the Hays Creek & Ritchie Point option, Hays Creek would handle 80 percent of the sewer and Ritchie Point 20 percent. Effluent would be discharged to the harbour through long, deep outfalls.

The third option outlined is for three separate wastewater treatment facilities located at Hays Creek, Ritchie Point and Morse Creek.

Again, there are advantages and disadvantages. Treatment facilities are located in areas with the largest wastewater flows and resource recovery is possible, states the report, but similar to other options, the location is in the city core, land is expensive and solids would have to be transferred.

The presentation will also cover various treatment technologies. All community members are encouraged to attend.

It's the economy (Tuesday, March 9, 2010)

Some in the US look to be rid of NAFTA, a new credit cruch on the horizon and  China holds to the US dollar,
some of the items of note for Tuesday.

Globe and Mail-- Concerns mount over credit default swaps
Globe and Mail-- Chevron to shed 2,000 jobs this year
Globe and Mail-- China commits to U.S. Treasuries
National Post-- Rushed launch takes wind out of newest cellphone carrier
National Post-- Macroimprudential monetary policy
National Post-- U.S. lawmakers urge scrapping of NAFTA
Vancouver Sun-- Major construction projects planned or underway in B.C. worth $187 billion
New York Times-- Demand for Lithium Is Poised to Take Off
New York Times-- Chevron Says It Will Cut 2,000 Jobs
New York Times-- Proposal for European Monetary Fund Meets Resistance
USA Today-- Cisco to introduce new heavy-duty Internet router
USA Today-- Toyota CEO hints at March sales rebound in U.S.
Guardian UK online-- Sachs calls for Robin Hood tax on 'smirking' Wall Street
Guardian UK online-- Trade deficit soars to £8bn highest level since July 2006
Guardian UK online-- Eurotunnel profits slump
Times online-- Europe plans its own answer to the IMF
Times online-- Pound takes new beating on growing trade gap
Telegraph UK online-- Just how low does sterling have to go to boost exports?
Telegraph UK online-- New credit crunch risk as banks face funding crisis
Telegraph UK online-- Fitch warns Britain and questions Greek rescue as sovereign risks grow
Melbourne Herald Sun-- CBA tightens screws on lending
Melbourne Herald Sun-- Australian Bankers Association adopt backup chief
Sydney Daily Telegraph-- What crisis? Gen Y shrugged off financial meltdown, finds Viewpoint Report
People's Daily-- China to fine tune its stimulus plan
People's Daily-- China reaffirms to keep yuan basically stable: official
China Daily-- China calls US Treasuries important, wary on gold
China Daily-- PetroChina, Shell set sights on Arrow
Times of India-- Auto sales zoom a record 35%
Times of India-- Hero Honda may build 4th plant, targets rural mkts