Dear Editor:
It is simply amazing to listen and watch the local media frenzy on the oil spill off the coast of Louisiana south of the border. They pose the question, particularly CBC, to their local experts (ha! ha!) about Newfoundland and Labrador's readiness for such a spill and the short answer is no. There are resources available locally to address smaller spills. There are reasonable resources to respond but beyond that we will have to stand around with our fingers in our mouths wondering and waiting when help will arrive.
I will be accused of repetition but the greatest risk in this part of the world in this regard is in Placentia Bay. It has been clearly identified by all who should know from the Prime Minister's office to Cape Race and everybody with any knowledge in between.
A safety emergency management plan administered by a very competent Argentia vessel traffic centre is essential for Placentia Bay.
Finally, where are our federal MP's on this subject? They trip over one another getting their faces in the media on matters other than their own backyards. Speak up please, on this very important constituency issue.
William P. Hogan
Mayor, Placentia
Placentia Bay at greatest risk
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Published on
May 10, 2010
- Published on July 5, 2010
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Staff ~ The Charter
Dear Editor:
It is simply amazing to listen and watch the local media frenzy on the oil spill off the coast of Louisiana south of the border. They pose the question, particularly CBC, to their local experts (ha! ha!) about Newfoundland and Labrador's readiness for such a spill and the short answer is no. There are resources available locally to address smaller spills. There are reasonable resources to respond but beyond that we will have to stand around with our fingers in our mouths wondering and waiting when help will arrive.
I will be accused of repetition but the greatest risk in this part of the world in this regard is in Placentia Bay. It has been clearly identified by all who should know from the Prime Minister's office to Cape Race and everybody with any knowledge in between.
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Comments
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- Brenda
- - July 6, 2010 at 11:55:56
To Lady from Nfld.
Your naïveté would be refreshing in any other situation! Do you actually realize what you are saying? You are saying that if Minister Johnson and the Premier say that everything has passed with flying colours and that they have the studies to prove it, then everything is fine. Do you not understand how big business actually works? -
- Lady
- - July 6, 2010 at 11:55:56
Brad ,It appears that everytime Placentia Bay is mentioned you always repond with a negative opinion about Vale Inco . Well sure Erco was around for years & it did provide many years of employment (maybe even some of your family worked there ) .I would think that safety measures for the environment are improved now compared to what they were even 5 years ago .Let Vale Inco continue with their project ,provide jobs(maybe some of your family is working there now or trying to get jobs there ) & deal efficiently with environmental aspects to make sure that they do not become environmental problems .
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- Brad
- - July 6, 2010 at 11:55:56
Lady from nfld, it is the ignorance from people like yourself that ValeInco are feeding off of. Do you even know what they are doing there? Environmental laws have slackened over the past few years, allowing industry to dump toxins into pristine waterways, does that sound better than 5 years ago? I want the industry, but I want industry to do it right, the way it can afford to do it. They don't allow this practice anywhere else in the world. We could sell the water from Sandy Pond for much more than they will get from ValeInco, and that would be renewable. Good for jobs now, what about in 20 years? Keep your head in the sand lady, that'll make things better.
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- Brad
- - July 6, 2010 at 11:55:54
Don't worry Mr. Hogan your biggest worry isn't an oil spill, it is from the megadisaster you fully support being constructed by ValeInco, once that stuff starts leaching into Placentia Bay, oil spill response won't help. Anyone with a grain of sense knows that Sandy Pond leaks, and drains directly into the bay, it is only a matter of time. Erco wasn't too long ago do you remember that wonderful industry and its impact on the bay. Wait until we have another tropical storm like Chantal, there will be acidic runoff coming down over the hills everywhere, and their little earthen dams won't be able to stop it. If you are truly concerned about Placentia Bay, and not just a few jobs for the area, you would speak up about ValeInco.
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- Lady from Nfld
- - July 6, 2010 at 11:55:50
Brad -I am not ignorant to any of this . I am aware of what Vale Inco is doing since I am from Long Harbour .
Apparently studies were done prior to Vale Inco being allowed to start the project . I would believe that if there were dangers to the environment then the project would have been halted before it started just the same as any other industry would be treated teh same way . By the way -I do not work there nor am I looking for a job there . -
- Brad
- - July 6, 2010 at 11:55:50
Yeah just like the studies that were done for every other environmental disaster that was approved in Newfoundland. I read the studies, thousands of pages of them, did you? What did the studies prove, how much damage they were going to cause? What I read in the E.I.S. was scary to say the least. You are from Long Harbour so you know that what they did at Erco was a good idea at the time,studies were done, well times change. Unless we stop this senseless destruction of the environment, and allowing industry at any cost, we will continue to be poisoned by industry. ValeInco knows there are cleaner ways of doing this, but Sandy Pond is cheaper and hidden away from public eyes. Also being from Long Harbour you must know alot of people in the graveyard that have died as a result of cancer from Erco, and the industry you have coming is worse, polluting the ground, water and the air. You really need to educate yourself as to what is happening over there, because you have to live with it not me. Enjoy your 15 years of jobs, and an eternity of carcinogens.
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