Maxine George Comments on Current Events

A Dog Lover Takes a Rational Look at the Sled Dog Slaughter Controversy

2011-02-06T21:18:00.000-08:00

Some animal lovers are speaking out quite forcefully about the sled dogs being put down at Whistler. I am an animal lover and I come from a whole family of animal lovers. I don't condone what happened, but I do understand why it happened. Someone saw the Olympics as a good opportunity to start a dog-sledding business. It takes quite a few dogs and they are usually special breeds – ones that love to run. The business crashed after the Olympics was over. The cost and work involved in maintaining a large pack of dogs was prohibitive for a business swimming in red ink. I haven't heard anyone come up with an option they could have used. It may have been more humane to put the dogs down - as the SPCA does with our blessing - than to allow them to starve to death.

We had an Alaskan Malamute some years ago. My husband brought him home when we lived in Surrey. Lobo was a BEAUTIFUL dog – black and white with a heavy coat and a huge mane, like a lion. He was a very placid dog who really didn’t bond with anyone in particular – not even my husband or “Doctor Doolittle” as I sometimes refer to him. Lobo also didn’t bark, which was nice for us but with his bulky appearance and not very friendly attitude toward strangers, he did intimidate some surprising people. He just occupied the fenced back yard. We had no real understanding of these dogs. However, one trait soon became apparent – he loved to run! If the gate was opened and unattended, even for moments, he would take off for freedom and a good run. If Lobo noticed that our back door opened simultaneously with the opening of the front door, he would bolt into the house, up the stairs and out the front door and on his way. We could call him back to no avail. The only option was to take the car and follow his trail or search the streets. When we caught up with him, it was usually because he had run out of enthusiasm. I would just open the car door and he would come over, jump in and sit proudly on the passenger seat and ride home in style.

We went to Yuma for a short holiday. We had a friend, who worked for the company, come to house (and animal) sit for us. Wouldn’t you know while Al was there, Lobo got an opportunity to go for a run. It seem he ran all the way to a shopping centre about a mile from our place. One large complex in the place had been turned into a flea market. Lobo didn’t stop to buy a ticket when he went in to look things over. He walked around until he found someone selling rabbits. He thought it was lunch time so settled in for a fresh rabbit meal. Much later, our daughter located him at the pound. We got a phone call while in Yuma telling us that we would have to pay for bailing him out of the pound and also for the cost of his lunch – an expensive one as we had to pay for the emotional trauma of that event too!

Shortly after that we dog-sat with a small terrier named Pepper. Pepper and Lobo became good friends, so Pepper became a permanent companion for Lobo. When we moved to the farm, my husband fenced a large area for a dog run for those two dogs. They had a nice big dog house out there too. Even Doctor Doolittle couldn’t take Lobo out unless he was on a leash. Pepper just stuck with Lobo wherever he was.

One summer my husband came home from a trip to the USA, on crutches, with a broken foot. We had a thunder and lightning storm that night. I woke up to hear a strange noise in the yard and looked out the bedroom window. There appeared to be a dark shadow at the corner of the dog fence. Putting on my kimono I went out and see what was happening. Turned out the big dog had gotten frightened and taken a run at the fence, getting his head through the small mesh opening and there he was stuck! I pulled and tugged from both ends, but couldn’t budge him. I had to go back into the house and wake my husband to come out (on crutches) to see what the two of us could do. Doctor Doolittle pushed on Lobo’s head and I pulled on the other end and between us we got the dog unstuck. So we both went back to bed. A while later I again heard the strange noise and sure enough the dog had tried to run through the fence of the other side of his yard!

Out in the country Lobo’s runs were looked on quite differently, as people who raise sheep and chickens don’t take roaming dogs lightly, as they can do big damage to their animals. Lobo and Pepper only got loose occasionally. That changed though when we got Buddy, our shepherd/wolf cross. Bud was a well behaved pup who became a constant companion for Doctor Doolittle. However, when he got big enough he learned how to unlock the gate to the other dog’s pen. Lobo and Pepper’s “dog runs” became frequent and expensive. We would have to bail the two of them out of the pound. Eventually the two of them didn’t come back from a run. By that time we were relieved as our searches had become quite frequent and widespread. We do not know that Lobo had ever been used as a sled dog, however the breed is definitely used that way in the snowy north and he was certainly born with the urge to run!

Some years later I had the opportunity to go dog sledding near Quebec City. We were taken out into the country to Adventure Nor-bec, where Denis Montminy kept a pack of 160 well-bred and well-trained dogs. About 70 of them were the beautiful and powerful Alaskan Malamutes and the others were the slightly smaller Siberian Huskies. In a large field, each dog was tethered in his own area, with a dog house. They were socialized to their keepers and visitors. We were allowed to pet them. However, when the handlers began to get the sleds out and ready the dogs began pulling at their chains and howling, first one or two, then they all joined in. It was quite a chorus! The dogs were so eager to run that once they were unleashed from their doghouses, the handlers had to lift the dogs off their front feet to get them to the sleds. The dogs were strong enough on four feet to have taken off with the handlers in tow! As sled dogs, those animals were wonderful animals. I am sure none of them could have been rehabilitated into household pets. And as our experience proved, they were not the kind of animal that could be turned into a farm dog either. The daily upkeep on a huge pack of dogs has got to be very expensive, not an expense the SPCA would be happy to take on. The government would certainly not step up to take the responsibility for any part of the fallout created by the two week Olympic spectacle. If people hadn’t gotten so enthused over the two week wonder, they might not have been bedazzled into believing that we were going to have this wonderful tourist bonanza capable of supporting Olympic businesses forever after! The choice made may have appeared to be the only one available. Why do we need to carry this discussion on further? Let the animals rest in peace.

H1N1 Flu Immunization: What are the alternatives? Make an informed choice.

2009-10-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

One of my earliest memories is of seeing an iron-lung in a storage room behind the kitchen in a small prairie hospital, when I was a very small child. I was told how a person was put into this cylindrical metal tube, with only their head sticking out, because they had polio and could not breathe on their own. The memory is still very vivid and very clear. The H1N1 Flu virus can move swiftly into the lungs of its victims, leaving medical personnel no alternative but to put them onto respirators to try to save their lives, has brought this to my mind.

Years later, I again saw an iron-lung in a small prairie museum. As an RN myself, I asked my cousin, (also an RN, who was eleven years older and had lived in Saskatchewan all her life,) “Why would the small town of Cereal have had an iron-lung?” She told me that there had been a particularly bad polio epidemic that had spread throughout the prairies in the thirties. The few hospitals available had not been able to hold all the cases. Sometimes the overload of sick had been cared for in the churches or schools. Polio was still a summer scourge in the late forties and early fifties. People were told to stay away from crowds, especially on beaches and in movie theatres, when a polio epidemic was rampant. Polio was a disease that attacked varying muscles and caused paralysis, usually limbs were affected, but in about 10% of cases the respiratory muscles were affected, frequently causing death. People who survived polio were often paralyzed or disabled by their wasted muscles for the rest of their lives. In the USA there were 300,000 cases of polio with 58,000 deaths in 1952. We all knew people who had polio. My closest friend was a polio victim as a baby and was left with a limp then developed post-polio syndrome in her later years; my grade eight teacher was a beautiful young lady with a wasted arm; a teenage friend’s arms were left weakened; a friend of my mother’s had heavy steel braces on her legs, as did my friend’s sister. These were people I personally knew. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was struck down with the disease as a young man. Although he went on to become president of the United States, he never walked again. Then Jonas Salk invented an immunization for this dreaded disease. In 1955 it became generally available to a welcoming public. People did not question whether there might be some problems for a few of the people who were immunized. I gratefully took my year old daughter to be immunized along with my husband and myself. Each person counted in the battle to eradicate the disease. We knew what the alternatives were.

While we grew up red measles, German measles or Rubella, mumps, chicken pox, scarlet fever, whooping cough or pertussis passed through communities regularly. We heard tales of diphtheria that attacked the throat, tetanus that caused lock jaw and small pox that if it didn’t kill you left you terribly scarred. When I first had children of my own, communicable diseases were still regular threats, usually brought home by the first child who went to school. The diseases were usually mild, we all knew how to recognize and treat them. My friends remember being kept in a dark room when they had measles. The Asian flu and the Hong Kong flu went through the world in the mid-fifties. I remember being sicker that I ever have been in my life in the fall of 1957, with the Asian flu.

When one person in a household came down with a contagious disease, we all knew that if we had not already had the disease, we could be the next victim. Quarantines were the only thing we could do to stop the spread of the diseases. We knew about the incubation periods, so would remain watchful while the days counted off. I remember the summer of 1963 I was looking after two young nephews while their mother was in the hospital having another baby. My son and his cousin both woke up sick one morning. One had chicken pox and the other had measles. For the next few weeks the diseases were passed back and forth amongst the children. The second nephew spent a few weeks with us waiting his turn to get the last of the diseases. It was a joyful day for his parents when he could finally return home to meet his new brother.

But then again there were those who were very ill and had serious side-effects from the contagious diseases. Because most of today’s baby boomers and younger adults have not had personal experiences with the serious illnesses that occurred in the pre-immunization days, they fail to comprehend the alternative to immunization. Most of those diseases still exist in the third world, although the World Health Organization works hard to immunize as many people as possible throughout the world, with the hope that one day those diseases be globally eradicated, as has Small Pox.

The Diptheria Tetanus and Pertussis (DTP) combination immunization protects against three very serious diseases. What were the alternatives?

Diphtheria is an infection of the nose, throat, and lungs that produces a thick coating over the air passages, seriously interfering with breathing. The condition can spread to the heart and nervous system, causing permanent heart and brain damage. Between 10 and 15% of those who contract diphtheria die.

Tetanus, or "lock jaw" causes severe muscle spasms that interfere with breathing. The infection is usually contracted from a puncture wound and can cause convulsions and paralysis that are fatal in 50% of cases.

Pertussis or "whooping cough" is an infection of the throat and lungs. It is easily identified by a characteristic noisy "whooping" cough. Pneumonia is a common occurrence with this disease, which may also be complicated by convulsions, brain damage, and death. This illness is particularly deadly in infants less than one year old.

Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR). The MMR vaccine is a combination vaccination that simultaneously produces antibodies against measles, mumps and rubella (German measles).

Mumps, caused by an infection of the salivary glands, produces swollen glands, primarily in the neck, that can lead to deafness, pancreatitis, seizures, and brain disorders. In males the swelling can also occur in the testicles producing sterility and impotence.

Measles (Red) is still a killer outside the United States and is the most serious of the common childhood diseases. One in every 1,000 cases can result in deafness, blindness, brain damage, and seizures. 10% of people who develop brain damage or seizures will die.

Rubella or German Measles is a mild viral disease in the children who catch it, but if it occurs in a pregnant woman, especially in the first trimester, the developing fetus may be affected producing severe birth defects in her infant. Thousands of infants were born with heart disease, deafness, and mental retardation as a result of their mother’s contracting German measles during her pregnancy.

If Canadians and Americans had not stepped up to the plate and gone for polio immunization in the big way, the disease might have continued unabated until this day. Instead it has been virtually eradicated from North America. When the other immunizations became available, we again gladly had our children immunized. We knew what the alternatives were. Because we willingly had our children immunized, there are generations of North Americans who do not have a memory of the tragedies that occurred due to the scourges that blazed a trail throughout this land every year.

Some people became complacent and forgot about the benefits of the immunizations. Many found excuses for not seeking immunizations for their children. As they said, “There might be side effects.” Let me tell you the side effects were nothing compared to the havoc and tragedy that could be created by those diseases. People no longer realized how many serious illnesses, disabilities and deaths were avoided by the immunizations. Many people had not heard about their grandparent’s siblings - the ones who did not reach adulthood, because they died of one disease or another. Efforts are made to try to immunize as much of the global population as possible. As a result, Small Pox has been eradicated. Still many third world countries have pockets of communicable diseases. We have relaxed our vigilance. With speedy travel throughout the world, diseases can reach North American ports of entry within 24 hours. Many of those diseases are rarely seen on this continent – and then some like TB were thought to be controlled in North America. However, there has been a resurgence of a treatment- resistant TB here, believed to have arrived from third world countries. We must be vigilant and work with our public health agencies to keep diseases at bay. It is a battle that we all must fight.

Now those responsible for public health are advising the public to go for H1N1 Flu immunization to stop the spread of a disease that can strike our young people with amazing swiftness and deadliness. This is a new virus that has mutated to move to human hosts. H1N1 was formerly only seen in animals. Children, as young as six month old, students, young adults, especially pregnant women and baby boomers are all at high risk. Some people born before 1957 are thought to have some immunity, gained by exposure to one of the global flu’s that passed through the world in the mid-fifties because that was a similar type of virus. That doesn’t go to say everyone 52 years of age and older is immune to the H1N1 virus. The ball is now in your court. It is up to you to step up to the plate and strike down this new scourge that is threatening people throughout the world.

Make and informed decision. Think about the alternatives!

Rafe Mair sends a powerful message. At least take the time to read this and understand what this old sage is telling you. It is important!

2009-05-05T13:11:00.000-07:00

Rafe here, I thought I might send you my last thoughts on the rivers issue.In order to get the message out, would you please send it to your address book and ask them to do the same?Best,Rafe

Rafe's Summary: I've been fighting injustice my entire life. I have long looked with considerable skepticism at those in charge feeling strongly that they must have the closest possible scrutiny. I've been in government and know how the spin is administered to issues so that evils in government policies are disguised. I've long been guided by what I call Mair's Axiom I, namely, "one makes a serious mistake in assuming that people in charge know what the hell they're doing". During my time practicing law I took many cases "pro bono" because I sensed an injustice.As Consumer Minister I battled hard for consumers passing 33 pieces of legislation in two sittings, a record before or since. In the Ministry of Environment I stopped government killing wolves, stopped exploration for and mining of uranium and negotiated the saving of the Skagit River from being made into a lake by Seattle raising the Ross Dam.In radio I fought against two disastrous constitutional exercises, Meech Lake and Charlottetown, the Kemano Completion Project, a gravel pit on the Pitt River, the fish farm issue and recently the private river swindle.I'm now in my 78th year and though I'm pretty fit, the time comes when you have to consider that your place in the front line trenches should be taken by younger people. I've greatly enjoyed speaking all around the province and meeting so many of you on the "rivers" issue but being away from home on the road for many days at a time takes a toll While I have no intention to stop speaking out and writing on environmental concerns perhaps it's time I started supporting causes but not being its torch bearer.In short, I have to face reality.The "rivers" issue I'm now fighting is one of the most important I've ever been involved in and in this fight I include the government's appalling record on the fish farm issue. What's at stake here is the essence, or you might say the very soul, of British Columbia. The return of Gordon Campbell will mean the sale, for money we'll never even see, the British Columbia we love so dearly. Indeed the money will be paid by us through BC Hydro to the very people who will destroy our province!We do not need power - the National Energy Board is authority for that. When we do require more we have four viable ways to get it.1. Conservation2. Upgrading our present generators.3. Putting generators on flood control dams and new ones on existing dams4. Taking back the power we're entitled to under the Columbia River Treaty.It's critical that we all understand that private power depends upon the spring runoff for the water it needs, meaning it mainly produces power for a few short months at best and at the same time BC Hydro's reservoirs are full to brimming. Because this power is of limited duration and at a time Hydro can't use it, it's exported bringing us within the purview of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)A re-election of Mr. Campbell will mean the not so slow strangulation of BC Hydro, our power company that is the envy the world and it will happen this way. Hydro has lost 1/3 of its employees to Accenture, the bastard nephew of the infamous Enron, and its transmission lines to a new crown corporation, BCTC. Meanwhile, what's left of our public power utility, BC Hydro, is banned from developing new sources of renewable energy and is forced instead to buy large quantities of expensive private river power that we don't need and can't use at more than twice the market price. Buy high and sell low! With just a few private projects now up and running already Hydro owes $30 BILLION on long term indexed prices and every private project adds to the total and tightens that strangling noose. Barred from producing new sources of power and still carrying its $7 BILLION Capital debt, Hydro is on its death bed only waiting for Mr. Campbell to administer the Last Rites.As he did with BC Rail, Premier Campbell promises to keep BC Hydro publicly owned - that, if nothing else, must tell us what he intends to do.Of huge concern is that BC Hydro, always able to pay of hundreds of millions a year dividends to the BC treasury, which go towards our schools, hospitals and social programs, now cannot do so. In essence then, the public is paying, through BC Hydro, for the capital costs of private companies like Ledcor and General Electric, while no longer receiving the bounty of BC Hydro's much envied ability to create clean, cheap and constant energy.It doesn't end there, of course. Each plant desecrates the rivers it diverts or dams (the industry prefers we call them weirs) for all time. We must remember that while economic missteps by government can be fixed by a later government, once we've lost our rivers and BC Hydro we can never get them back.This is indeed a "watershed" election (pun intended) where we'll decide if we keep "supernatural BC" or turn it over to large international companies such as General Electric.The Liberal government, in the words of Oscar Wilde knows "the price of everything and the value of nothing"If we re-elect the Campbell government we will, quite rightly, be condemned by our children, our grandchildren and generations as yet unborn.Sincerely,Rafe Mair

What is happening to B.C. Hydro and our cheap power.

2009-05-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

B.C. Hydro shares a piece of my history. My Dad worked for B.C. Electric which was the original name of B.C.Hydro. This little video is a bit of fun but gives you something to think about. I actually found it in the ads on this blog. Please take a few minutes to look at it. It is called:
Boardroom Breakthrough: Hydro Heist and can be found at:
http://www.moveforwardbc.ca/ Keep informed!

Protect our wild salmon. Let the government know how we feel on the subject. The Wilderness Committee delivers petition.

2009-05-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

This e-mail came in this morning. I would like to help this lady get her message out. It is a good one and follows my creed "Keep informed!" I'm sure any of you who wish to join this group at Canada Place on the 6th of May would be welcome.

Alexanda Morton writes: "To those of you in Vancouver.
The Wilderness Committee will be carrying our letter with its’ 13,000 signatures to Gordon Campbell’s constituency office. They have built a salmon mascot, Tum Tum who will join them and will be also delivering their own petition with 33,000 signatures on it urging government to protect wild salmon from fish “farms.” I am hoping to be there as well.When: Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 12 noon. Where: In front of BC government cabinet offices at World Trade Centre at Canada Place, downtown VancouverIt is remarkable to me that there has been no answer to our letter simply asking for the laws of Canada to be applied and I appreciate the Wilderness Committee delivering this in person. Many of you have received the same email from different Liberal MLA candidates saying that the Province is not allowed to interfere with the BC Supreme Court decision, but this is not accurate. In filing an Appearance they have given themselves the option to send lawyers to the appeal filed by the fish farmers. They may indeed have decided not to fight the decision, but why then has Gordon Campbell not answered our letter?I am hoping that we don’t get to find out. We need someone in government who can answer a question asked by 13,000 people.I learned this week that the U.S. Food and Drug Agency has a ban on importation of food products that have been exposed to the chemical Emamectin benzoate (Slice) that Canadian fish farms use to suppress their sea lice. Fish farmers use this chemical in many places where people collect sea food to eat and despite requests never post notices to the public so we could avoid the drug. There is an article on page 12 in Pacific Fishing on this: http://openpub.realread.com/rrserver/browser?title=/North_West_Publishing_Center/PF_May09_1280 <http://openpub.realread.com/rrserver/browser?title=/North_West_Publishing_Center/PF_May09_1280> In a remote, wilderness so beautiful it captures your soul, I have raised my children on seafood exposed to a drug banned in the U.S. Alexandra Morton"

Political Subterfuge regarding salmon farms and the water policy relating to the independent power projects

2009-05-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

This morning's e-mail brought in a couple of messages that I found both interesting and informative. The first is an article that is in the Times Colonist about Salmon Farming.
The author, Terry Anderson, founder of the Wild Salmon Alliance, states that the government's present position towards Salmon Farming makes no sense for B.C. citizens and our wild salmon stocks. It is worth taking a few minutes to read this at:
http://www.timescolonist.com/story_print.html?id=1559216&sponsor=

The second is a copy of a letter written by the Glen Valley Watershed's Society and sent to the politicians running for election in this area, Rick Coleman, Gail Chaddock-Costello and Travis Erbacher. It is about water quality and gives some issues that we should be bringing to the attention of our political representatives. We and they must remember that is the position they are vying for! I've been told since reading this one that the government will respond that they already have a water policy. The thing they won't mention though is that it will not be implemented until 2012. "Why" you might ask? The reason might just be that by then the Independent Power Projects will all be at the stage where they can be grandfathered in, even through they will not meet the standards in the new water policy. Seems there are a lot of things that we just don't understand.

The Commericalization of Our B.C.Water

2009-04-18T07:06:00.000-07:00

We must all be informed about what is happening in our province. Please take a few minutes of your time to watch this video. It is very interesting and informative.

http://ashlu.info/video/bcrivers.html

Hopington Aquifer lies under a large area of Langley Municipality

2009-04-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

Hopington Aquifer is the main water source for many people in Langley Municipality. An information Forum is being held in the Murrayville Hall, Saturday April 18 between 9a.m and noon. We must take steps to maintain the quality and quantity of the Township's water.

Pirates vs. Shipping: A Historical Perspective

2009-04-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

We are all hearing about the increasingly active pirates that are taking over ships off the east coast of Africa. I am wondering why the big ships that have to use the pirate’s corridor don’t take a page out of history.

Read the remainder of this article at: www.magiccarpetjournals.com/Pirates_convoys.htm

The above picture is of one of Canada’s Park boats, the SS Mewata Park, unloading cargo at Canada Docks, in Manchester England during WWII.

The response from the neighbours of Brown's Pit

2009-04-10T18:21:00.001-07:00

Friends and Neighbours, Jim and Betty Findlay speak for all of us when they say this in response to Rich Coleman's letter:

Rich Coleman, MLA
Fort Langley-Aldergrove
Minister of Housing and Social Development

Dear Rich Coleman,

Thank you for your letters in reply to mine of September 18, 2008, protesting the proposal to re-open Browns’ Pit.

Your last letter of April 9, 2009 advising that the proposal has been abandoned, has brought relief to my family and many others dependent on the Hopington Aquifer as their only source of good water.

Any efforts on your behalf conducive to this decision is sincerely appreciated and it is rewarding to know common sense prevails.

Thank you,

Jim & Betty Findlay

Open Forum - Langley Municipality

2009-04-09T19:33:00.000-07:00

An Open Forum will be held on Saturday, April 18th at the Murrayville Hall near 5 Corners on Old Yale Rd near 216th.

This response came in this afternoon. Click on the letter if you want to see it full scale.

2009-04-09T15:34:00.001-07:00

Gravel or Drinking Water

2009-04-09T12:02:00.000-07:00

Local resident Bill Mozel gives a concise account of the history of the struggle between the local residents and those elected officials who have been in control of the proposed gravel removal project.

Provincial Government Decision Looms

For Opening Brown Road Pit

Our Langley neighborhood awaits the decision by the Provincial Government on plans to re-open and expand Brown Road Pit for 1,000,000 plus cubic metres of gravel for the Gateway Project, right in our own backyards. There are approximately 55 private water wells within 450 meters of the planned gravel mine. This plan has probably been in the works for years, but our neighborhood only became aware of the proposal early last summer through activity on the property and an article in our local newspaper. Our neighborhood has been working diligently for many months to stop the proposed gravel mine and save our drinking water.

In the Provincial Legislature on March 24 & 25, 2009; MLA & Opposition Environmental Critic, Shane Simpson asked the Minister of Environment, Barry Penner; "Will he commit today that he will not approve of gravel extraction from Brown's Pit and will protect the integrity of the community's drinking water". Minister Penner's reply was:"I'll be pleased to investigate this matter and take the question of notice". Upon further pursuing this environmental issue regarding the sensitive Hopington aquifer and that we do not have a Plan B for drinking water; Mr. Simpson then directed questioning to the Minister of Transport who is behind this proposal, asking him to do the right thing & withdraw this proposal around the Brown's Pit gravel and say to our community that he will find his gravel somewhere else, not jeopardize our water source and back off his proposal. Again, Minister Penner's reply was:"As I've already indicated, I'll look into this matter. Since the member has not seen fit to bring it to my attention before today, I will endeavour to investigate this matter".

Obviously, Minister Penner does not acknowledge receiving the following regarding Brown Road Pit & our Hopington aquifer:
1) January 16,2009: Bill & Elizabeth Mozell delivered in person to Minister Penner's constituency office in Chilliwack, a 27 page petition with cover letter.
(The same item also delivered to Minister Falcon & Minister Coleman )
2) January 30,2009: Karren Winther & her husband, Nick Constantino e-mailed Mr.Penner on this matter.
3) February 10,2009: Dr. B. Moats sent a letter to Mr. Penner on this issue.
4) March 12,2009: Karren Winther & Nick Constantino, again mailed an extensive information package to Mr. Penner on this issue.

What did we all receive from our Minister of Environment? "NO REPLY".

To the Minister of Environment, the Honourable Barry Penner and his government's plans for expansion and re-opening of Brown's Road Pit; the matter is plain & simple; this is an 'ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE'. For the minister to deny (and that is stating it mildly) any knowledge or refuse to respond in the legislature to this serious environmental matter is an insult to the people of our community and the Province of B.C.
We have not heard a whisper from Mr. Penner to this day and I find his lack of interest, input or comments to be unacceptable for a Minister of Environment. Perhaps, he is restricted by an internal government 'gag order' or his ministry is under the direction & control of the Minister of Transportation.

Members of our neighborhood delegation met with our MLA, R.Coleman on Dec 10, 2008; NO REPLY. The petition and cover letter delivered Jan 19,2009;
NO REPLY. Finally, on Feb 16, 2009 an ambiguous letter & local newspaper announcement that no gravel will be extracted if there is risk to the aquifer.

Our neighborhood delegation met with MoT, Minister Falcon, Deputy Minister K. Blasetti & G.Dawson (Project Director-Gateway Project) on March 6,2009.
We were all made aware that Mr. Falcon's decision on gravel mining from Brown Road Pit will be based on "FACTS" from a hydrogeological assessment by EBA Engineering Consultants Ltd.; the governments firm of choice. Mr. Falcon also made it very clear that the residents of West Vancouver went to Provincial Court over a project that affected trees and wildlife. He stated that the provincial government won that case.
Minister Falcon; we are not dealing with trees or wildlife. We are trying to protect our drinking water, private wells and the fragile Hopington Aquifer.

Last year, September 22, 2008, EBA Consulting sent a report to the MoT with the results of a desk-top study and a site visit to document potential surface and groundwater issues associated with the property on Brown Road. From this report; quote: "The above-referenced 'Map of Groundwater Vulnerability' identifies that the Hopington Aquifer underlies the Property area. The Hopington Aquifer is considerd by B.C. Ministry of Environment (MoE) to have "very high" rating with respect to its vulnerability for being contaminated from surface sources.

Without having started the project and removing 1 shovel full of gravel; Mr.Falcon's facts will be based on the data from 5 (MoT) monitoring wells:
a) present level of water table
b) present quality of water
c) present direction of water flow
It is difficult to imagine that Mr. Falcon will base his decision on these facts before a hole approximately 800'x500'x(50'-100'deep) is even started.
Minister Falcon, you will inevitably contaminate our drinking water, ruin our private wells, damage the sensitive Hopington aquifer and destroy the neighborhood we cherish & enjoy so much.

To Premier Campbell, Minister Falcon, Minister Coleman and Minister Penner;
Your decision should be based on only 2 of the 4 choices:

YOUR GRAVEL OR OUR WATER

DOLLARS & CENTS OR COMMON SENSE

W.N. (Bill) Mozell
Township of Langley

The health of the Salmon river is important to Chinook Salmon

2009-04-06T21:53:00.001-07:00

The Salmon River is again one that is used to compare the health of the various streams in the area. At present, this river is noted as being one in which there is a good survival rate of Chinook salmon according to the DFO. The Coughlan Creek runs directly into the Salmon River, the confluence of the two being not far from the proposed gravel pit at Brown's Pit.

The Giveaway of Our Provincial Resources

2009-04-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

I have a book to read that was recommended to me by my son, Ed. He said, "It will make you mad, Mom." It is called Liquid Gold: Energy Privatization in British Columbia by John Calvert.

As many of you know, helping to save our local Hopington Aquifer, where many of us in the Municipality of Langley, get our water, has been uppermost in my mind recently. We cannot afford to gamble with our water. There is no alternative water supply. We are dependent on our wells. Although I've never been much of an activist, the potential for damage to HopingtonAquifer, by the government plan, has caused this grandmother to climb over barbed wire fences in an effort to bring attention to our plight.

Then I got an e-mail with two links in it:

http://saveourrivers.tv/powerplay_player5.html and

http://ashlu.info/video/bcrivers.html.

As I watched these two short films discussing the privatization of our natural resources, they made me furious! These films are not about what kind of politics you believe in,. They are about BC, our resources, and what is happening to them. These resources are being given away to private industry. Its a Gold Rush and the citizens of this province receive no benefit yet ultimitely pay the price.

Please take a look at them with an open mind, and realize what this will do to our children and grandchildren in the future, and what is being taken from them.
This grandmother is getting her eyes opened wide in 2009.

I hope you will take a few moments to check them out. Your comments are welcome in this blog. Just click on the comment square below this post.

Water versus Gravel; We Cannot Afford to Gamble

2009-03-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

According to Kevin Falcon, the government is waiting for an answer from their hydrologist, who they expect to determine whether they should take the gravel out of Brown’s Pit. When opinions have been given by several other studies and those express reservations regarding that controversial option, should our government move on the opinion of only one? Is that not taking a gamble, the gamble being that only one person is right? Now what if that one person is wrong and the others are right. Then what is to be done? Our water would be contaminated by the gravel removal! What other option would we have? We would have gambled and lost. I’m not a moonlight gambler. I cannot afford to loose the water we depend on and neither can the other people of the Municipality of Langley. Water is a necessity of life.

In case you missed today's Langley Advance you might want to click on this link for a little chuckle:
http://www2.canada.com/langleyadvance/news/opinion/story.html?id=b694dc25-d173-42a5-a497-2ef86bf83e58&p=1

The Plans to Reopen Brown's Pit Must Stop Now!

2009-03-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

Karren Winther, another neighbour lists her reasons for opposing the reopening of Brown's Pit, which lies over the Hopington Aquifer.

Located at 240th street and 68th avenue in Langley
Beneath it lies the already overpumped and fragile Hopington Aquifer which supplies drinking water to well over 3000 homes – studies completed as early as last year which this government participated in classify it as one of the three most fragile aquifers in the province
This ex gravel pit was mined up until, and then closed in 1963 – 11 years later the area developed - wells were drilled and homes built. More recently legislation to prevent open pit gravel mining in the municipality was put into place.
Now, 46 years later this B.C. government wants to reopen this mine, enlarge it and extract gravel from this sensitive area – literally in our backyard
We were here first – this is not acceptable!!!
At risk is the quality and quantity of drinking water to thousands of people
We know gravel pits are bad (as quoted from a Fraser Health employee)
Case studies show that the result of ground vibrations from extracting and filling results in increased levels of arsenic in drinking water and phospherus levels in fish bearing creeks (the Salmon River and Couglan Creek surround this area)
Furthermore the water table is dropping at an alarming rate now – and plans to extract over one million (1,000,000) cubic metres of gravel (the largest pit Langley has ever had application for!!) will result in a hole 400 feet by 700 feet by 50 to 100 feet deep.
There are no other options for water here - the Township of Langley has assured us there is no hope of having city/municipal water in this area for at least 10 – 15 years.
There are many other sources for gravel – Heidleberg, Mainland Sand and Gravel, Valley Sand & Gravel and Lafarge to mention only a few. Gravel can be barged down the river directly from the Sumas pit at a fraction (1/20th) of the cost as mining and transporting it by truck.

Contact Number 604-530-6106 or
www.hopingtonaquifer

Update on Saving our water at Brown's Pit over Hopington Aquifer

2009-03-27T11:42:00.001-07:00

My neighbour Bob Moats had this to say about the mining of Brown's Pit:

The proposed mining of Brown's Pit in Langley Township for provincial Port Mann and freeway construction gravel is an unconscionable act which cannot occur without every aspect of community, water safety and environmental integrity being devastated. This is in spite of a long standing moratorium on gravel extraction in the Township of Langley.
Our community group learned that “the plan” calls for 1 million cubic yards of gravel removal. This makes their claim of no damage to the aquifer, water quality and community and leaving this ALR land in improved agricultural shape when finished an untrue statement.
Let’s put size in context: My home is a 6.4 acre lot bordering the south 700 feet of Brown's Pit (the area that still has gravel). The footprint of 1 million cubic yards is one-third the volume of the Gizza Pyramid whose base covers 13 acres (exactly double my lot) and attains a height of 450 ft. So the ground footprint of the excavation of my north border would be 700 feet long and 400 feet wide (the pit itself isn’t that wide so it would have to go deeper than 50 – 100 foot deep to round out to 1 million cubic yards. This is a frightful image.
The damage to the Hopington aquifer would be stunning. All the oil and other toxic material dripping from machinery would travel for miles in the gravel (anyone remember Walkerton?). The gravel is God’s water filter and with the extraction the gravel would be gone. The natural filtering process destroyed – the damage incalculable.
I have questions and so should you all.
If the provincial government is so incredibly comfortable turning their back on fair play on the Cambie Street corridor and in Delta – would we expect to be treated differently? Should we be comforted by “we’ll do a study” (surveying for the freeway ramp is done, as are four test wells). Is surveying part of the pre-study process? Do they, as we suspect, consider this a “done deal”?
With a gargantuan hole 700x400x50-100 feet deep does anyone believe that they will “restore it for agricultural use”? That is being economical with the truth – more precisely a lie. Such a fill project would be virtually impossible – whose quality soil would they steal to fulfill this pipedream?
We recently (last two years) were subjected to the filling of part of the old pit. They hauled for weeks, making our roads unsafe and dumping illegal material (hog fuel) into the old pit. They contaminated adjacent wells (hog fuel) and when finished it didn’t make a dent in the old gravel evacuation space. Restore to agricultural use indeed!
Is the ALR protecting our breadbasket or are they a thinly veiled Liberal rubber stamp? We’re told that this project has preliminary ALR approval – how can that be possible if anybody is doing their job?
Our group is methodically gathering facts and information and the more we gather the more frightened and outraged we become.
Meanwhile, I will not stand quietly and idly by while unprincipled people in government without a conscience commit a premeditated “rape of Langley”.
Bob Moats, Langley

Brown's Pit and Hoppington Aquifer Part 3

2009-03-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

Some interesting information has come to my attention on the internet today. The Globe and Mail has an article relating to the controversy regarding gravel mining in Brown's Pit and the effect this could have on the Hopington Aquifer. It can be found at:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090326.BCLANGLEY26/TPStory/TPNational/BritishColumbia/

For anyone interested in reading the transcript of the legislative discussion relating to this subject I found them at:

March 24th
http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/38th5th/H90324y.htm

March 25th
http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/38th5th/H90325y.htm

Brown's Pit and Hopington Aquifer Continued

2009-03-26T05:41:00.000-07:00

For two days now, our legislature has discussed the proposed gravel removal at Brown's Pit above the Hopington Aquifer. Shane Simpson, the NDP Environmental Critic brought the subject up in question period during the afternoon session on March 24th. He addressed his question to the Liberal Environment Minister, Barry Penner who appeared to be unaware of the problem. His response was that he would look into it.

Giving the government 24 hours to get the information, Shane Simpson again brought the subject up again on March 25th. He stated that the Environment Minister should have been aware of the problem with mining over the Hopington Aquifer at Brown's Pit as the information had been delivered to him by several interested parties over a period of weeks, beginning in January and February and included a 309 signature petition.

The buck was then passed by Barry Penner, the Environment Minister to Kevin Falcon, the Minister of Highways. Who responded to each of the three NDP MLAs who spoke on the subject. His repeated response to each question was that his government would "make the decision with facts given to them by people who have a lot of expertise in the area." I am wondering how they pick and chose which of the experts that they hire are the ones they can listen to. They already have two studies produced by branches of their government that claim the Hopington Aquifer is fragile and should be protected. Now Falcon says they are waiting for a hydrologist's report. Tell me, does that report negate the two previously produced reports?

Is this a new policy of this government? I attended a meeting in Chilliwack on March 19th at which a series of experts stood up and declared that gravel mining on the Fraser River would do nothing for flood control but would seriously destroy gravel beds that are used by salmon, sturgeon and other fish to lay their eggs. The government has consistently ignored the advice of the experts who have filed reports advising them of this fact. If the government had taken the time to consult and listen to some of their own experts they might have made better choices for the location of their gravel dredging permits for the Fraser River bars. The only fish the government seems to be interested in are the red herrings they throw out to divert the attention of citizens from getting the facts.

Hopington Aquifer, Brown's Pit and the Gateway Project

2009-03-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

This blog was intended to feature stories relating to travel, however at this time my attention has been riveted on a site much closer to home - Brown’s Pit and the Hopington Aquifer. Water is a necessity of life and therefore anything that threatens our water supply is a threat against each of us who depend on the Hopington Aquifer for our water supply.

I have traveled to many places in the world and seen how people’s concerns about the environment are making a difference. The indigenous people of Taiwan took the responsibility to bring back depleted fish stocks; the native people of Borneo are replanting trees in the rainforest to replace the food sources for the animals that live in the corridors that run beside their river.

It makes me sad to know that in Canada our British Columbia government is basically ignoring our environmental concerns. They are not providing good environmental leadership. How can our provincial government claim to be “going green” when their big move has been to add two cents to our gas price! Get traffic moving so that we don’t use so much gas! Twinning the Port Mann Bridge has been discussed for years. Now we have the big plan for a new 10 lane bridge. How much longer will it take to get that one on the road?

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m in favour of a bridge that will meet the present and future needs of the Fraser Valley community. People who live out in the country don’t have access to public transportation, although we are expected to subsidize it. However, the need for that bridge has only been given lip service for many years, while commuters have been left to idle their engines on the Highway 1 parking lot for those many years.

With an election in the offing and federal money being offered the government is now going to move with a newer bigger plan – one 10 lane bridge. What happened to twinning I might ask? The plan includes widening Highway 1 east while the bridge is being done. Both ideas seem to be well received here in the Fraser Valley. Anything is better than nothing!

Now we come to materials to see this plan come to fruition. Gravel is a much needed commodity for construction anywhere and especially for road construction. Gravel is also worth big bucks to the construction industry. To the government, Brown’s Pitt became their obvious solution. It is just south of the freeway and could be reached by building off-on ramps at 240th St. between the 232nd and 264th exits. No further need to worry. Just get the ALR to remove the land from the agricultural land reserve, build a couple of on-off ramps and they would be in business. They say, “Anyone who might oppose our plan is not in favour of progress.”

But just wait a minute. We have a major environmental concern. Brown's Pit is on top of the Hopington Aquifer.

Brown's Pit, also know as the Brown Road Pit. is pastoral farmland located at 240th Street and 68th Avenue in Langley. It has been such for 46 years. It was part of the Agricultural Land Reserve. Beneath it lies the already over pumped and fragile Hopington Aquifer which supplies drinking water to the wells serving over 3000 homes over a large area of the Municipality of Langley. Studies completed as late as last year, in which this government was involved, classify it as one of the three most fragile aquifers in the province. Meaning that if it is not protected it could be destroyed! What would happen to all the people and animals that depend on that water for their homes? Where is the alternative water supply if removal of the gravel from Brown's Pit causes arsenic to leach into our water supply? Would the government pipe water in from somewhere else? Would you really believe that? That would involve big bucks again. Some people on piped municipal water currently may not realize that their water comes from community wells that get their water from the Hoppington Aquifer. Rich Colman sent us a letter telling us they are waiting for the results of a study that will be completed AFTER the election. Yes, but what about the studies already done stating that the Hoppington Aquifer is fragile, so gravel removal would be hazardous. Why are those studies being ignored? What are we supposed to do if their predictions come true?

Secondly even with the on-off ramps at 240th the multitude of gravel trucks would be traveling the freeway at all hours causing major disruptions in the traffic during those hours. Currently that area is one of the problem areas on Highway 1 east. Traffic is subject to frequent stoppages on a regular basis. Traffic frequently comes to a standstill between 232nd and 264th especially during rush “hour.” The so called “rush hour” is a misnomer. “Rush hour” on Highway 1 is no longer an hour, but is from 5:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. traveling west and heading east it conservatively from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. and maybe longer.

There is another more ecologically friendly alternative that does not appear to be considered. We have been told that the gravel could be barged along the Fraser River at a fraction of the cost and inconvenience – not disrupting traffic on Highway 1 to the same degree. It could be brought to site from either under the Port Mann Bridge or under the new Golden Ears Bridge which will open later this year. A mountain of gravel is being extracted from the Vedder Mountain. Gravel is now being barged to California from Sechelt and Texada Island. That option could not only save the project money, it would save some of the traffic congestion, which wastes fuel and time, but it would also help to save the Hopington Aquifer. When it comes to water v.s gravel – water has to take precedence every time. Water is a necessity of life.

B.C. citizens must let our government know that Brown’s Pit is not the ecologically friendly way to obtain gravel for the new bridge and freeway expansion. Abusing the Hopington Aquifer is not an option. Serious consideration must be given to other options including barging the gravel along the Fraser River. If it is cost effective for Californians to barge gravel from B.C. Why would it not make a lot of sense for that gravel to be used for B.C. construction purposes? As B.C. citizens we need to be confident that our government considers it their business to protect our water and our environment.