-traveling,

TERRACE — More
than 100 concerned peo-
ple, many of them
residents of the Lakelse
Lake shoreline, recently
crowded into a public
meeting to hear Bert
Orleans, developer of the
Mt. Layton Hot Springs,

defend the sewage treat-

ment system proposed
for the lakeside recrea-
tion complex.

by Michael Kelly

All seats in the ban-
quet room at the Terrace
Hotel were taken and
standees lined three of
the walls; the intense
questioning occasionally
degenerated into
shouting and disorder.
Regional Waste Manage-
ment Director Ron

.Driedger, who chaired .

the meeting, was
sometimes forced to call
for quiet and cut com-
ments short in order to
allow everyone at the
three-hour meeting to
speak,

Orleans began the
meeting with general
remarks outlining his
development plans for
the site, which will incor-
porate a cafe, pools and
water slides. He then
turned the podium over
to Wynn Hobson of

2 Terace Review —Wesnesiny, May 28 1986 a - -
Hotsprings developer |
defends proposal —

Bert Orleans recently
presented his proposal for
developing the hot springs
site at Lakelse Lake at. a
public meeting In Terrace.
The meeting was sponsored
by the provincial Waste
Management Branch to ad-
drass concerns about the
sewage treatment system for
the complex.

Telkwa Engineering,
Ltd., for a_ technical
analysis of the waste
treatment system.

The system proposed
for the operation con-

_sists of primary and

secondary facultative
lagoons leading into a
cattail pond, after which
the treated effluent is
flushed into a canal
leading to the lake. Hob-
son noted that a ground
disposal (septic tank)
system is unworkable at

Coroner to investigate
logging truck death

TERRACE — A cor-

oner’s inquiry has been
launched to examine the
circumstances surround-
ing the recent death of a
young Terrace woman

on the Sande St. over-’

pass. The woman died
when a loaded logging
truck overturned near
her as she was walking
across the overpass.
Terrace district cor-
oner James Lynch stated

in a recent interview that’

the inquiry is standard
procedure following any
sudden death. Lynch
said that the investiga-
tion will take into ac-
count the statements of
witnesses, RCMP find-
ings, a mechanical in-
spection of the truck in-
volved, traffic analysis
concerning the speed at
which the truck was
road _ condi-
tions at the time of the
accident and an autopsy
of the victim. He said
that the purpose of the
inquiry is to determine
the cause or causes of the
accident, and to make
recommendations di-
rected toward preventing
such accidents. in the
future.

Lynch said that the in-
quiry process usually re-
quires months, and he
added that an inquest
could be called if war-

ranted by the findings.
An inquest would in-
volve a panel of five
jurors to make deter-
minations and recom-
mendations. The _ in-
quest, he went on, would
not be called if the crown
attorney lays charges in
the matter and a jury
trial takes place.

. Many local residents
have recently expressed

apprehension regarding -

the operation of logging
trucks in view of the fact
that the Sande overpass
mishap was not the first
of its kind in recent
weeks. Inspector Ron
Evans of the Terrace
RCMP, however, views
it as an isolated incident.
“In terms of general
safety, there’s nothing to
be made of this. There is
a question of speed, and
whether one of the wraps
gave away.’’ Evans also
pointed out that the

-RCMP and highway

patrol do frequent spot
checks of logging ve-
hicles, ensuring that
loads are within legal
limits by the use of
portable weigh scales.
He added that highway
patrol members are cer-
tified to conduct mech-
anical inspections as

’ well,

Evans said that the
continued on page 3

' disposal

the hot springs site due
to impervious soil condi- -
tions which would pre- .
vent percolation. He
then launched into an ex-
planation of the theo-
retical working of the
lagoon system.

The raw sewage is
dumped into the lagoons
and passes slowly
through a convulated
course. During the
passage naturally-
occurring bacteria
gradually consume the
toxins and break down
the solids in the effluent.
The cat-tails in the final
stage of the treatment
absorb nitrates, phos-
phates, bacteria, and
chlorine. Hobson com-
pared the design of the
system with sewage
systems in
Smithers and Terrace,
pointing out that the 30
cubic metre daily
discharge from the hot
springs complex will
have. a 60-day minimum
holding period in the
lagoons, in contrast to
3000 cubic metres for 28
days in Smithers and
4000 cubic metres for 90
days in Terrace. He
added that the effluent
may be treated with
chlorine if required by
the Ministry of Health,
and he said that the
chlorination would be
removed by the cat-tails.
‘We think this is the best
system possible,’ he
concluded. ‘‘It can’t be
done any better.’’

Kul Bindra from the
Waste Management
Branch Smithers office
gave the gathering a
bureaucratic back-
grounder on the permit
application process, Ef-
fluent: quality is assessed
in terms of oxygen im-
pact, quantity of
suspended solids and
phosphorus, and ‘fecal

coliform. count. Bindra
‘said that after the

meeting a final techriical -
assessment of the
disposal system would
take place and a decision
made on whether to ap-
prove the permit. If the

‘operation proceeds, a

monthly sampling and
monitoring program will
begin to ensure that the
effluent quality remains
within standards.

Brian Wilkes: of the
Waste Management
Branch environment sec-
tion presented a
historical cross-section
of water quality

Waste Management representatives at a public meeting held in Terrace recently are (left to

right) Mary Rathsbome, Srian Wilkes, Kul Bindra and Ron Driedger. The meeting was called
to address Inquirles about the sewage treatment proposal for the Mount Layton Hotsprings

development.

monitoring on the lake

going back to the late
1960’s. The concerns of
the audience were

_ graphically illustrated by

coliform counts as high
as 3200 cells per millilitre
during the period of

‘previous operation for

the hotsprings. Ministry
of Health standards for
drinking water are 10
cells per millilitre.
Samplings after 1978,
when the old hot springs
shut down, still indicated
excessive coliform
counts in the waters
around Water Lily Bay,
Furlong Bay, the
Kinsmen Camp and
generally anywhere there
was human _ activity,
leading to the conclusion
that the hot springs was
not the only source of
pollution on the lake.
During the question-
and-answer period
leading to the close of
the meeting, distrust and
suspicion were directed
at both the developer
and the regulatory body
with Driedger and
Orleans besieged with
comments such as
‘“We’ve heard these pro-
mises before” and ‘‘a
Waste Management per-
mit is a permit to
pollute?’ Driedger
pointed out that the
discharge permit for the
old hot springs was
issued before the crea-
tion of either the Pollu-
tion Control Branch or
the ‘Waste Management
Branch,
standards are now much
more stringent. He ex-

plained that the old -

Operation’s treatment

system was a “‘package’”’ .

system with mechanical
components that fre-
quently broke down.
“Our criteria are to
protect the uses of the
watercourse for drinking
water, fish habitat and
recreation by achieving
water quality ob-
jectives,’’ Driedger said
and repeated portions of
earlier presentations.
The lagoon structure will

stressing that |

Wynn Hobson, of Telkwa
Engineering Ltd., attempted
to answer questions from
the public about the sewage
treatment system designed
for the Mt. Layton Hotspr-
Ings Development at Lakelse
Lake. The meeting held
recently In Terrace was at-
tended by more than 100
local residents.

be one metre above the
200-year -flood plain,
making overflow nearly
impossible. The nutrient
loading will be 15
kilograms of phosphorus
annually, insignificant in
view of the 8000
kilograms which goes
through the lake every
year, and the coliform
count at the outflow will
be 200 cells per millilitre
which, when diluted in
the lake, will conform to
Ministry of Health

drinking ‘water stan-
dards. Driedger conclud-
ed by stating, ‘‘Nutrient
loading of the lake from
residents is far greater
than anything that will
come out of the hot spr-
ings. As long as there are
cabins and development
there will be coliform in
the waters - our objective
is to achieve Ministry of
Health standards.’’
In spite of persuasive
arguments and answers
in minute detail to most
of the questions raised,
most people attending
the meeting appeared
dissatisfied. A sugges-
‘tion that a resident’s
organization should be
established to monitor
effluent discharge was
met with enthusiasm by
Driedger, who offered
the cooperation of Waste
Management personnel
in any such effort.
Perhaps the most
credible position on the
issue Was put forward by
Bert Orleans himself,
who argued enlightened
self-interest. “‘I live on
the lake, too,”’ he said.
“I depend on its beauty
and purity. If I manage
this badly, I'll soon be
out of business.”

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it’s at...

A guide to
Terrace’s
night life —
the “who
where and
when” for
entertainment. |

Northern
Motor
Inn
This week’s
feature:

at George’s Pub

Saturday Jam
4to7 p.m.
Bring an instrument!

 rouG sIMITH

aap ae
engl:

te es

apt BN ictal ag ai ieee

GAL RrE SpA ang See ea E
7 a

seme ee ce