‘oy Wednesday, May 7, 1975 By DONALD w. MUNRO, M.P. The following paper was presented by Donald Munro at a meeting of the Canada - U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group which met in Quebec City on April 25 and 26. The Juan de Fuca Strait, leading from the Pacific Ocean, and _ separating Vancouver Island from the State of Washington, has a number of unusual charac- teristics. First of all it leads into two important bodies of water: to the Strait of Georgia (to the North) which are Canadian inland waters, and Puget Sound (to the South) which are United States inland waters. Secondly, through Juan de Fuca runs the In- ternational Boundary neatly dividing the waters into Canadian and that of the United States. Thirdly, through Juan de Fuca moves one of the last remaining great salmon runs - inbound to spawn, or outbound, as fingerlings or grilse, to begin their life at sea. Fourthly, Juan de Fuca has been known ever since its discovery, as treacherous waters, subject to the vagaries of strong tides, wind, fog, and current within its narrow margins, varying from 12 - 20 miles in width. Barely a day goes by without a Small Craft Warnng being issued for these waters, meaning that winds up to 30 m.p.h. can be expected. Finally, the prevailing wind blows from “the southern quarters. It is into these waters that the 180,000 ton tankers, carrying crude from the Alaska slopes, will be coming any time after 1977 / 78. There is still time to look for alter- native routes, off-loadng ports and / or off-loading facilities. ENVIRONMENTAL THREAT If the tankers do come into Cherry Point or Port Angeles, it has to be recognized that they can do so by following a route that lies entirely within USS. or international waters: from Valdez, Alaska through U.S. waters out to. “the high seas’’, then south to enter.,the U.S. side of Juan de Fuca. Canada, therefore, cannot prevent these tankers from plying their trade. Our recourse, in consequence, is to reason based almost ex- clusively on the threat to the environment - the ports and harbours of our shared Inland Sea and the fisheries and the ecological chain. The appeal to reason depends, in large measure, on: economic arguments. How much more (or less) would it cost, in dollar terms, to build off-loading (and pipeline) facilities elsewhere than in the Strait area? What is the value of the fishery that would be threatened (possibly even exterminated) by a major spill at a particular time? (It has to be noted here that, as matters now stand, both Canadian and U.S. com- mercial fishermen rely on the Fraser River run for much of their catch), What of the pleasure boating and sport fishing that the area provides but which would be threatened by a spill at any time of the year? What are the costs o be faced to carry out a clean-up operation? In the present “‘state of the art” it is impossible to foresee $4000 ,000; the full extent of damage that could occur in any particular spill - in Juan de Fuca or elsewhere. There are so many physical and _ biological variables that toattempta full and final forecast is just not possible. (The ‘‘Arrow”’ clean- up in Chedabucto Bay cost the ‘Torrey Canyon’’, $12,000,000). There is enough evidence to suggest, therefore, that the oyster beds, the kelp beds, the bird life, and the living organisms required to keep the chain of life functioning, would all suffer some damage from an oil spill to give us yet another reason to look elsewhere for a site at which off-loading could be carried out. GRAY’S HARBOUR At a meeting of the Canada/U.S._ Inter- Parliamentary Group in Washington in July, 1973, a proposal was made suggesting that Gray’s Harbour, in the State of Washington be con- sidered as a likely alternative site for off-loading Alaska crude. Since then a number of developments have occurred requiring further con- sideration of that idea. First of all, a study of facilities at Gray’s Harbour indicated that it would be extremely expensive to construct the breakwater needed to provide safe haven for tankers off-loading in- shore at that point. Secondly, Governor Evans of the State of Washington, _ has announced his intention to have a study made of the feasibility of constructing off-loading facilities at Port Angeles, (in the State of Washington, directly across the Strait of Juan de Fuca (23 miles) from Victoria and having the oil transported by under-water pipeline from there to the refineries at Ferndale and Cherry Point. The reason for this suggestion was to prevent the large tankers from going further east to reach Cherry Point via the Rosario Strait, whose waters (wholly within the U.S.) are narrower, shallower and more treacherous even than the Strait of Juan:de Fuca. While the Port Angeles idea is an improvement on the Cherry Point one, it still means that large, cumbersome tankers that are difficult to manoeuvre would be entering the dangerous Juan de Fuca waters. Some other site, or some other means of off- loading, should still be possible to find. An enquiry into existing and potential off-loading facilities has turned up some surprising and encouraging material. It is proposed that these alter- native methods be in- vestigated more thoroughly and evaluated in terms of: a) the cost of installing and utilizing these proposed facilities as compared with the cost of constructing the facilities at Port Angeles and b) the cost of such installation and construction as compared with the cost of cleaning up and rehabilitating ‘‘the Inland Sea”’ of the Georgia Strait and Puget Sound after a major spill in these narrow waters. THE PROPOSED ALTERNATIVES Focusing again on Gray's Harbour and on the off-shore loading = facilities used elsewhere in the world, and bearing in mind the new techniques for oil and spillage control developed in con- nection with off-shore drilling rigs, it is proposed that some sort of a mono-buoy system be installed at a convenient location along shore of the Olympic Penin- sula to permit Alaska oil to be off-loaded and piped ashore in much the same way as ships are loaded in many parts of the world. There are, in fact, no less than 15 deep draft tanker terminal concepts that are already in use or under active examination. Two at least of these fifteen systems would appear to be most likely cnadidates for the job, one, the “mono-buoy”’ catamaran system. forward in full awareness of the problems that can be created by the Pacific rollers that are characteristic of that stretch of the coast. They are made however, awareness of the unusual hydrostatic qualities of a fully- laden oil tanker of the 180,000 ton size: they do not respond in the same buoyant way to waves as do tranditional and lighter ships; because of their differing response to wave and swell when unloaded, there is some reason to favour the “catamaran approach’’, which :could be used to Stabilize the ship as off- loading proceeds. would appear to consist of two widely spaced pontoons in- terconnected below the water, THE REVIEW Page 13 a KE ALTERNATIVES TO CHERRY POINT AND PORT ANGELES ALASKA TANKER ROUTE providing what would amount to a floating drydock (but a wet dock instead) that would be equipped with stabilizers and storage tanks. The stabilizers could be operated to combat the rollers, and the storage tanks, in addition to acting as stabilizers, could be used to hold the sluicings from the tanker. In connection with the sluicings it is worth noting that anything from 0.3 percent to 1 percent of a crude cargo stick to the walls and floors of tanks after discharge. This can be recovered, although it is usually sluiced out and discharged at sea. If sluicing is done while the ship is “in port”, the recovery mixture could be pumped ashore to settling tanks and ultimately e added to the off-loaded cargo. The ‘‘state of the art’? may not be sufficiently advanced at this moment to handle all the problems connected with off- loading massive tankers in the Pacific rollers. But, since we can drill for oil and gas at sea, and since we can get men to the moon and back, surely we can devise means of getting oil ashore safely off some con- venient point on the Pacific Coast of Washington, par- ticularly if, in doing so, we would eliminate entirely the damage that a large spill would cause in the delicate environment of inland waters such as those of Puget Sound and the Georgia Strait. the Pacific or, two, the These proposals are put in similar The ‘‘catamaran approach” Opinion SHARING THE WEALTH From the Vancouver Board of Trade In these uncertain times, when there is so much talk about inflation, recession, energy, taxation, government spending and sundry other problems, there is a natural tendency to look to our leaders for a way out of the wilderness. The problem is that our leaders sometimes appear to overlook the fact that it was the initiative, saving and risk- taking of Canadian entrepreneurs, farmers and other workers that generated the wealth government is wont to distribute. If we are to have resources available for people at home and abroad, we need to ensure that capital formation and risk-taking are promoted and encouraged. Any inheritance of existing wealth, whether personal or public, is very often mismanaged. As a result, greater interest shown in measures to create wealth (and less in sharing it) would strengthen the economy. It seems logical to conclude that our easy-going habits in various aid programmes are at least partly conditioned by the ease with which the federal government exacts revenue from Canadian productivity. With federal revenues growing on average by more than 20 percent annuallly, it would appear that the government may have more money to spend than is good for it — or for us. Too much money can soon burn a hole in the pockets of the best-intentioned person. If government were to ex- perience as much difficulty in finding money to spend as" most individual citizens do, there might be some incentive to give more attention to priorities. Discontinued spending programmes are certainly not very apparent. On the contrary, there seem to be more programmes each year, spending more money with what appears to be less con- trol. This is not to suggest that the blame lies entirely with government, Those who want to draw from the public purse are always vocal, while those whose efforts and savings help fill it remain relatively silent. In this unequal debate, it is inevitable that there will be relentless pressures on our leaders to do more, to spend more and to demand more of us. All of this with less return to the taxpayer. To isolate ourselves from responsibility for par- ticipating in political discourse is unfair to both ourselves and our leaders, Sharing after all, is an act that goes deep and has broad implications. It is certainly not limited to “Sharing the Wealth." The idea of sharing — whether it be of wealth or responsibility — may be prompted by the . highest of motives but the results can be problematical. The con- sequences of present trends deserve much greater public attention and discussion than they have so far received. BRENTWOOD BUSINESS DIRECTORY. ooh os Contractors BILL BRAIN ROOFING New and Old Roofs Applied, Repairs FREE ESTIMATES OH2-2008 RICHARDS HEATING 652-2631 OW, BURNER SERVICE FURNACE INSTALLATIONS Food Services BRENTWOOD MERCANTILE SUPERMARKET Quality Meat Cut, Wrapped for Homo Freozors 7100 W. Saanich 652-1652 Excavating DENCH EXCAVATING LTD. @ BACK NOK WORK ® CAT WORK TRUCKING 10134 MeDonald Park Rd. 656-2651 656-5811 Ropairs - trailer cushions - custom mado furniture, Upholstery DANISH UPHOLSTERY Any size boat and Miscellaneous WALTER C, STAUB, PMG, Piano Tuning and SERVICE all piano parts stocked Brentwood Bay Shopping Centro 642-1501 Miscellaneous Conservatories at Zurich and Vienna recommended by leading music teachers G&W, Landscaping Ltd. Rosidentlal -Commorcial 652-2476 Music Lessons, & Golf Course Construction 6955 West Saanich Rd. freantwood Bay Glen WHHams 652-3923 CLASSIFIED “HOTLINE” 656-115] AJAX f Home and Office Cleaners, vice. Free Estimates 656-1278 STREAKLESS CLEANERS SPECIALIZING IN. HOME CLEANING WINDOWS FLOORS GUTTERS WALLS SERVICES TORY MILLS 2260 WEILER AVENUE SIDNEY, B.C. PHONE 656-3775 MARSHALL’S PAINT WASHING PHONE 383-7942 Chiropractors CHIROPRACTOR Robert W. Roper, D.C. 2448 Beacon Ave. ISidney 656-4611 Contractors B. 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PETERS Masonry Contractor BRICK-BLOCK-STONIS CONCRETI PAVING ROM Alex Road, Soanichton PHONES 652-2251 Building Maintenance Complete Janitorial Ser- | CONSTRUCTION CLEAN-UP WINDOW & FLOOR | CLEANING SERVICE BUILDING CONTRACTOR | PATRICK CUTTS LTD. | Eavestroughs, Qualified | iFree Estimates 656-4368] | Accounting Optometrists OPTOMETRIC ASSOCIATES CLOSED MONDAY Medical Arts Building 2412 Beacon Avenue 656-2713 CROWE ENTERPRISES BOOKKEEPING & ACCOUNTING SERVICES P.O. Box 96, Saanichton 652-5561 Landscaping POLSON’S TRACTOR SERVICE Back-Hoe Work, Rotovating, Plowing, Blade Work, Cultivating, Post Holes Dug, Brush Cutting. Phone 656-3556 Excavating DENCH © BACK HOE WORK | @ CAT WORK . @° TRUCKING SPRINGFIELD : LAND SCAPES designing and contracting MODERN DESIGNS “no job to large or too small’’ SUPERIOR PLANTS GUARANTEED WORK- MANSHIP 386-8116 and 652-3346 10134 McDonald Park Rd. ‘656-2651 656-5811 Drapes and Upholstery THIS SPACE RESERVED FOR YOUR. BUSINESS | DANISH UPHOLSTERY All Repairs-Any size Boat and Trailer Cushions-Custom made Furniture Brentwood Bay ‘Shopping Centre 652-1591 UPHOLSTERY REPAIRS RE-COVERING _ FREE ESTIMATES G. ROUSSEU 10651 McDonald Park Rd. | Backhoe Work Trucking 656-2127 SIDNEY BACK FILLING-LOADING _ SEPTIC TANKS FILTER BEDS SEWER-STORM DRAINS WATER LINES | . ' 2320 Amherst, Sidney © Electrical | Lewis Sevigny, 656-3583 Thorne-Lennon =| Electric PERCOLATION Dwelling-iIndustriat Subdivisions Disposal Field Designs Installation & Repairs Free Estimates Ph. 656-4297 Industrial - Residential Commercial Wiring Poles and Line Work QUALITY WORKSMANSHIP FOR PEOPLE WHO CARE PHONE 656-2945 ’ SIDNEY ‘Painting & Decorators M.J. SUTHERLAND ’ Painting & Paperhanging Decorating MEDALLION DEVELOPMENTS LTD, GENERAL & ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS All types of renovations & finishing. Older homes rewirea Framing & foundations. ‘ Phone: 656-4879 Anytime Phone 656-1041 A.D. (ART) NEEVES Electrical Contractor Appliances connected Electric Heating 656-1515 ‘GORDON UREN Painting & Decorating Walt Coverings SHERWOOD’S TV-RADIO CLINIC Govoarnment cortifiod, tochnician with 35 yoars exporionce in Eloc tronic Maintonanco and Repairs. Call Eric 656-4117 T. R. 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Free Estimates. Sidney Demolition 656-3519 R. & P Janitor Service Floor Care - Windows - Carpet Shampoo Complete Service for STORES - OFFICES - HOMES 656-2444 Gurney Instruments Marine radio, radar, auto pilots. : Industrial process control; chemical, pneumatic, elec- tronic Medical cardiac monitoring equip. ; 656-5793 ALICE'S | DRESSMAKING Men'’s- Ladies Childrens Repairs Alterations - Drapes 745 Ardmore Dr. Sidney 656-6170 [ARRY'S BACKHOE 656-1409 Casa A’ncora BEAUTY SALON : CREATIVE STYLING BY MARIEKA By Appointment Only 1936 Llewellyn Place‘ Sidney, B.C, 656-5912 f Tree & Shrub Care § pruning, spraying, Tree Surgery Hedge Trimming Weed, Brush, & Blackberry Control APRONS 656-1976 ANY TIMES JS. CRADDOCK a Govt, Licensed Pesticide . Applicator . FLEXOLg RE step to G Y BETTER WEALTH Mrs. Dorothy Brooks No. 102 - O861 Third St, H56-25 15 SIDNEY GLASS Marine Auto & Safety Glass Window Glasa-Mirrory Windshields tnatated ICBC Approved Insurance Claman Promptly ia nudled 1812 Fourth Phone 656-1918 Sidney Rotovating 50 in. Rotovator Prompt Courteous Service 656-1748 ANDY the HANDYMAN Clean up - window cleaning carpet oshampoolng — - Painting Lawn Service - odd jobs Free: Mstinates « O5e-BG(0