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[johnny]

Does anyone actually care about the facts?? The area is WELL away from the river and is on 100% dry land(with no creeks anywhere on it). It seems more popular to slag someone(or thier attempt to make a living) out of emotion and bunk "information" than aproach the source and ask them about it.. the person who applied for the permit yas yet ONCE to be contacted by any of the clowns that are starting petitions or fighting the application.

Interesting how little people do to find both sides of a story, yet support the one they "think" should be right.

[Dave]

Clowns??  People who care about the CRV are clowns??   Think you lost a few readers and some credibility there.

johnny, most certainly people care about the facts.  It's because there is so much misinformation about this project people are signing the petition, hoping it will trigger what should happen - a full environmental impact study.
Perhaps you are correct and this will have a minimal impact, but I doubt it.
That the Chilliwack River valley is a jewel in the Lower Mainland is well documented.  Unfortunately, it seems to be slowly dying a "death of a thousand cuts".
This proposed gravel mine, if approved, is another of those cuts.

[chris gadsden]

 I have not made my mind on this as of yet for several reasons . The hype of those for anti`s contain such words such as "Leaking , Oiling and Bubbling " ( this is not the Gulf of Mexico) tend to turn off some .  Another states that the Pit is in the vicinity or  to a Km of larsons Bench , Ive heard that several Creeks run thru this area but other statements state one and is is dry most of the time . The word "Could " Displays a may or may not event . The Three endangered species posted  are What . Lastly the picture of a Pot Holed Rutted Road (Chwk Rr Road) is rather colourful .
   The main question I have is there not a law requiring an "Environment Impact Study" be conducted prior to all projets ?
  The PUBLIC deserves factual information which an "Environmental Impact Study' would provide .
   Cheers
  

The last few years dealing with the gravel excavation projects on the Fraser River we have found in many cases all the proper environmental impact studies were not done. Also in some cases if ministry staff disagree with a project the government whats to go ahead they will be replaced or shuffled off, we have seen that happen. Also the province wants to combine the assessment process of the province and federal governments into one approval agency so the environment will suffer further. Also in the Ministry of Environment they have faced severe cutbacks in funding and staff that make enforcing environmental standards difficult.

[chris gadsden]

greybark consider reading this as it sort of backs up what I said above.

Note this paragraph in the story.


Penner and Krueger have 45 days in which to make a decision on whether or not to allow the project to proceed — and it appears that the B.C. Liberal government’s verdict on the project will come down to politics, not science.



http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/regulators+give+failing+grade+proposed+resort/3047267/story.html

[johnny]

Clowns??  People who care about the CRV are clowns??   Think you lost a few readers and some credibility there.

johnny, most certainly people care about the facts.  It's because there is so much misinformation about this project people are signing the petition, hoping it will trigger what should happen - a full environmental impact study.
Perhaps you are correct and this will have a minimal impact, but I doubt it.
That the Chilliwack River valley is a jewel in the Lower Mainland is well documented.  Unfortunately, it seems to be slowly dying a "death of a thousand cuts".
This proposed gravel mine, if approved, is another of those cuts.

I am not refering those who signed the petition as clowns. The ironic thing is that the family has been in the CRV for generations.. hardly would want to bring harm to the area. It just seems like a lot of fear based politicing from those who oppose it without attempting to look at both sides.

[chris gadsden]

From Glen:

 4 police cars visit Speakers Corner
The tamahi 3, Orion, Joe and Glen were released after a speaking with police at Speakers Corner beside the Tamahi bridge. Joe 86 and Glen 46 both of Chilliwack are shown in a photo with police online in a news story at TheValleyVoice ca. 3 Chiliwack RCMP cars and an unmarked suv dog team arrived at the scene after FVRD Director Dave Lamson and retired RCMP officer Tom Carscadden 84 exchanged words with the 'Host' of the nearby campground. The campground employee said the small crowd of 20 we're not allowed by forestry to sign a petition and film residents comments about a proposed gravel pit. Mr Lamson said the residents have a right to speak in a public place and do not need a permit to do so. The responding police officers looked embarassed when asked if they had called in for back up. There were only 3 of us still there when 4 cars arrived. The police told us privately they did not want to see a gravel mine go in this area and that we have a right to gather and speak in public places. The Valley Voice .ca will be doing a second story on the event tomorrow. StopTheGravelPit .com will have footage of residents comments that were recorded during the event soon

[chris gadsden]

 A couple of videos on this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pRsspIUFBM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7-kp3RHZIQ

[greybark]

greybark consider reading this as it sort of backs up what I said above.

Note this paragraph in the story.


Penner and Krueger have 45 days in which to make a decision on whether or not to allow the project to proceed — and it appears that the B.C. Liberal government’s verdict on the project will come down to politics, not science.



http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/regulators+give+failing+grade+proposed+resort/3047267/story.html

  Hey Chris , I did not doubt anything you said .   Thanks for for the suggested read as it FINELY provides some substantial info and timeline  The EAO report may be in a draft form and may or not be binding . If so those against this project would be best served by having their Petition with Facts concerning geography and social concerns somehow submitted as part of the EAO draft report , I suspect this may be  too late but one never knows .  

[dennyman]

From my perspective the most revealing video is the second you tube video which shows the location and its proximity to some of the aquifers in question. What is disturbing is that they have already clearcut sections for the proposed gravel pit . Seems like someone is pretty confident that it will be going through.  But if the gravel pit sits at the headwaters of the aquifer and the river it seems pretty obvious that any silt and runoff from the site will contaminate the aquifer and the water of the river. I may not be  a geologist or environmental expert but from my layman's eyes I can see why people are against this development.  Hopefully a full fledged study can be done on this project before it is pushed through. And if it has to be stopped it should be.  If the landowner feels he is  being unjustly treated because it has been stopped then the government should buy back the land at fair market value and compensate him accordingly. Too many people see dollar bills on so called projects before thinking them through properly;  such as what it a major contamination would do to the communities who rely on their drinking water from these aquifers. Anyhow it will be interesting to see how this plays out over the coming months.

[Dave]

Dennyman, good post.
When this issue first surfaced I thought common sense would prevail and the plan, if not totally squashed, would at least be put on hold until such time as a full and complete environmental assessment was done.   Now unfortunately, I’m not so confident this will happen.
The good news is David Lamson, FVRD Electoral District E, has forwarded this latest aquifer information to about everyone who can have input on this decision.
Let’s hope they understand the importance and potential consequences and call for a full environmental review.   I applaud David for this; it’s not often you see politicians as resolute and committed.

Question:  where is our Environment Minister, Barry Penner on this?   Not his department I know, but this is his backyard.  C’mon Barry say something …

Kudos to all the people out there busting their my friend’s over this; you know who you are.

[chris gadsden]

Dennyman, good post.
When this issue first surfaced I thought common sense would prevail and the plan, if not totally squashed, would at least be put on hold until such time as a full and complete environmental assessment was done.   Now unfortunately, I’m not so confident this will happen.
The good news is David Lamson, FVRD Electoral District E, has forwarded this latest aquifer information to about everyone who can have input on this decision.
Let’s hope they understand the importance and potential consequences and call for a full environmental review.   I applaud David for this; it’s not often you see politicians as resolute and committed.

Question:  where is our Environment Minister, Barry Penner on this?   Not his department I know, but this is his backyard.  C’mon Barry say something …

Kudos to all the people out there busting their ***’s over this; you know who you are.

My answer to David and all the people he sent the video links too including Penner and other politicians.

Thanks David for this, I have posted the video links on our fishing web site fishingwithrod.com where they should get some more exposure. We also have been posting more information as it comes in about this terrible idea of a gavel mine in this precious part of the Chilliwack River Valley that you and so many others have been working so hard to protect over the last number of years. Gravel, as you know has been taken out of the Vedder River and the Fraser River the last few years which is a concern to many of us as well, due to the damage we feel it is doing to fish and sturgeon habitat. We saw what happened in 2006 on Big Bar on the Fraser River when millions of pink alviens were killed due to an access road to the gravel mining site being constructed across a spawning channel which dewatered the redds of the pinks and chum salmon..I never understood why charges were not laid in this case.

 Of course those that are pushing these projects say it is for flood protection when studies, especially on the Fraser River say it helps very little if at all. I and many others feel it is more about the thirst for gravel and this proposal in Area "E"  of the FVRD reinforces this when you see this gravel mine being considered in a very sensitive area of the Valley. Then there would be the gravel truck traffic traveling on a very winding and narrow roadway not to mention the damage that will occur to the roadbed's paved surface. The City of Chilliwack saw the damage this year on Camp River Road as hundred's of trucks taking loads of gravel off Gill Bar traveled the road for a few weeks this spring. I have asked for what the total cost was but I have not received an answer yet but I saw in the paper the contractor does cover the costs incurred for the road repairs so the taxpayer does not pick up the costs. Public safety because of the increased truck traffic also has to be a major concern  to the residents you represent as the FVRD director of this area.

 Many of us are concerned about the lack of environmental assessments being done on projects like this proposal, as well as the lack of public input and it appears a lot of projects are just rubber stamped. Some of this may be caused due to cutback of staffing levels and lack of funds in the environment ministries, both Federally and Provincially.

 I am so glad there is people like the Friends of the Chilliwack River Valley and their partners CRV Ratepayers and ecoLogic BC who care so passionately about protecting this jewel of an area and are doing every thing they can to accomplish this, one can hope all our levels of government will do so as well.

Kindest regards,

Chris

[Riverman]

As for the police action at Tamahi.The overkill reaction by the police is regretable in the least.At the worst it smacks of something that you hear about in the third world or a totalitarian regime.Freedom of speech is rapidly becoming a luxury afforded to certain politicians and their friends.

[chris gadsden]

A letter to the editor relates concerns.

Gravel mine prompts long-term traffic concerns
 Are you concerned about the truck traffic that would be generated by the proposed gravel pit on Chilliwack Lake Road? Imagine 90 trucks per day, Monday to Saturday, all proceeding along Vedder Road for the next 40 years (the anticipated life of the mine). The three-way stop at the Vedder Bridge can be a nightmare at the present time with the logging trucks, industrial and recreational vehicles and residential traffic. Peak periods necessitate a flag person at this intersection. The trucks are committed to a right hand turn, as it is physically impossible for them to turn left on to the Vedder Bridge. Even the Cultus school bus is unable to make this manoeuvre.

Then where? Has any thought been given to the truck pattern following this turn?

1. Past the entrance to the Rotary Trail parking lot and the soon to be opened Petawawa Road off the old army base? The access from these on to the Vedder Road will be very difficult.

2. West along Keith Wilson Road, where Unsworth School’s Parent Advisory Committee has already been denied a traffic light at the intersection with Unsworth Road? The PAC is concerned about the elementary school children walking along and crossing this busy highway.

3. North through Sardis to reach the Freeway via the already crowded Vedder Road, with its numerous traffic lights and turning lanes?

4. East along Promontory past Vedder Elementary School, the shopping plaza and the Bailey Landfill to Prest Road.

Has a transport study been considered by the City of Chilliwack? Ninety trips daily would have an enormous impact on Chilliwack’s roads. Should we allow this to happen, or should the application for the gravel pit be stopped, before chaos reigns on our streets?

 

[alwaysfishn]

A letter to the editor relates concerns.

Gravel mine prompts long-term traffic concerns
 Are you concerned about the truck traffic that would be generated by the proposed gravel pit on Chilliwack Lake Road? Imagine 90 trucks per day, Monday to Saturday, all proceeding along Vedder Road for the next 40 years (the anticipated life of the mine). The three-way stop at the Vedder Bridge can be a nightmare at the present time with the logging trucks, industrial and recreational vehicles and residential traffic. Peak periods necessitate a flag person at this intersection. The trucks are committed to a right hand turn, as it is physically impossible for them to turn left on to the Vedder Bridge. Even the Cultus school bus is unable to make this manoeuvre.

Then where? Has any thought been given to the truck pattern following this turn?

1. Past the entrance to the Rotary Trail parking lot and the soon to be opened Petawawa Road off the old army base? The access from these on to the Vedder Road will be very difficult.

2. West along Keith Wilson Road, where Unsworth School’s Parent Advisory Committee has already been denied a traffic light at the intersection with Unsworth Road? The PAC is concerned about the elementary school children walking along and crossing this busy highway.

3. North through Sardis to reach the Freeway via the already crowded Vedder Road, with its numerous traffic lights and turning lanes?

4. East along Promontory past Vedder Elementary School, the shopping plaza and the Bailey Landfill to Prest Road.

Has a transport study been considered by the City of Chilliwack? Ninety trips daily would have an enormous impact on Chilliwack’s roads. Should we allow this to happen, or should the application for the gravel pit be stopped, before chaos reigns on our streets?

 

The question in my mind is: "If they can't get gravel from the Chilliwack Lake Road location, where should they get it?"           From the Fraser?, the Vedder?, from another jurisdiction??

My father taught me if I object to something then I better have an alternative solution.... and if I don't have a solution then I'd best not complain until I can come up with a solution......   So what's the alternative?

Without gravel they can't build roads, buildings etc. That's not realistic. I oppose this if it will have a harmful effect on the environment but opposing it on any other basis is simply a "not if it's in my backyard" argument.

[chris gadsden]

The question in my mind is: "If they can't get gravel from the Chilliwack Lake Road location, where should they get it?"           From the Fraser?, the Vedder?, from another jurisdiction??

My father taught me if I object to something then I better have an alternative solution.... and if I don't have a solution then I'd best not complain until I can come up with a solution......   So what's the alternative?

Without gravel they can't build roads, buildings etc. That's not realistic. I oppose this if it will have a harmful effect on the environment but opposing it on any other basis is simply a "not if it's in my backyard" argument.

Go back to debating the HST.