LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
- July 1, 2008
Dear Residents of Area H and Town of Princeton;
I just got off the phone with Brad Hope who is a member of Save Our Similkameen (SOS) and we had an enlightening and constructive conversation.
Both Brad and I have very different opinions of how I should be handling the Petrobank coalbed methane issue and that is fine. I do, however, believe that at the end of the day we share the same concerns about coalbed methane. Brad, who is not an elected official, has the ability to speak his mind loud and clear whenever he wants. I, however, as an elected official have different rules and conduct that I follow as I represent over 2,600 people in Area H.
I attended the most recent SOS meeting and I counted some 40 to 45 people. I hear them. I understand their concerns and their passion about this issue. I told the group that my personal opinion is that I would much rather Petrobank was not coming to our Valley but I was holding my formal opinion until Petrobank returned to this community and held a public forum.
Petrobank and West Coast Environmental Law are both being asked to appear as a delegation at the July 17th RDOS board meeting. The Regional Board, as well, is not prepared to make a formal statement until they have heard from both sides, Petrobank and West Coast.
This is where Brad Hope, and the Town of Princeton and I part company. The Town has made their formal statements as they feel that they have heard from their constituents. I however, have not reached that point yet. That is why when Petrobank comes to town you need to attend the meeting. You must attend whether you are for or against. I need to fulfill my obligations to Rural Princeton so when I voice my official opinion I will be able to back it up by saying that my community spoke and I listened.
I will stand by my decision to stay true to my timeline. Brad Hope has promised he is still going to hold my feet to the fire until I do and that is fine.
What truly does matter to me is that when the dust settles we are all standing on the same side of the street. "Give no decision till both sides thou'st heard" - Phocylides
- Gerri Logan, Area H Director
To The Editor;
Baseball great Yogi Berra was fond of saying "It's deja vu all over again." A year and a half ago we were dealing with Compliance Energy and their plan to foul our air with a coal burning power plant. Now Petrobank Energy wants to drill for methane gas in Princeton. This time, it's our water that is at risk. Each well would take 20,000 to 40,000 gallons of water out of our aquifer every day. At full production, there would be hundreds of wells in the valley.
Princeton would become another energy colony of the US. The gas would be shipped south while the profits would flow east to Alberta, leaving us holding the bag.
In other parts of North America, wells have gone dry or become so contaminated with heavy metals that they are poisonous to plants and animals. We could soon be buying our water by the truckload from the same corporations that rendered it unusable.
What can we do? Get educated. The internet has many sites that have facts about coalbed methane. Attend the public meeting to be held toward the end of July. Make sure your elected officials know that you want an independent evaluation of Petrobank's plans to make sure that our water supply wouldn't be depleted or damaged.
Water is the lifeblood of the Similkameen Valley. We need it for human consumption, irrigation, and industry. Ranches would go out of business without access to large quantities of water. The same is true of industries like Weyerhaeuser.
Local government, the RDOS, and local Indian Bands need to speak as one voice. That voice needs to say, "You can not drill in our valley unless and until you can prove to our satisfaction that we will not suffer any adverse effects."
- Dan Pippin, Princeton
The Editor:
On June 4th the News Leader ran a front page story asking Could Beans Banish Marmots? I don't know who has suggested castor beans and castor oil as good pest control agents. Perhaps it is one of these good old natural remedies. I would caution anyone against purchasing seeds and growing these plants around your own home without some careful research.
Castor seed is the source of castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses. The seeds also contain ricin, a poison, which is also present in lower concentrations throughout the plant. The story does explain that the chemical ricin can burn the mouth, increase thirst, cause dizziness and nausea but fails to mention death.
The toxicity of raw castor beans is well known; hence reports of actual poisoning are relatively rare. Children could conceivably die from as few as three beans; adults may require eight or more.
Ricin is poisonous inhaled or ingested. There is no known antidote. Only symptomatic and supportive treatment is available. Long term organ damage is likely in survivors. Ricin causes severe diarrhea and victims can die of shock. Ricin has made the news fairly often in recent times in connection with terrorism. This extremely toxic poison is fairly easily extracted from the beans and the beans are not hard to come by hence the appeal for terrorist application real or imagined. Incidentally, the production of ricin is illegal.
Any liquid solution you can concoct will probably be highly poisonous to most animal life, including your dogs, cats, and kids should they inhale or ingest this witches brew.
Castor beans are mentioned on the Internet as effective in removing moles, I suspect by poisoning them as they ingest the beans. There is, however, no mention on the internet that they might repel marmots or deer. Castor beans will kill them, of course, if you can get them to eat them.
Why in the world would we invite these terrible plants into our environment?
Be grateful that they require a tropical or sub-tropical climate to survive and spread - and can not survive our winters to proliferate. I can not imagine anyone sufficiently aggravated with marmots and deer to risk the life of a child or a beloved pet.
- Karin Green, Princeton
To The Editor;
In reply to Dawn Gardner
I was sorry to read you had been unwell and did not feel satisfied with the level of health care you received.
I also have had an unpleasant experience with a doctor where I felt he did not care enough about me.
Once at the drug store I received a prescription for someone named Smith and I'm a Jones - hers was for penicillin, which I am allergic to.
I have to say that I have had nothing but experienced the utmost in professionalism at the hospital laboratory and at Cascade Medical Clinic.
My negative experiences all took place 15 years ago. We had one clinic and one drug store back then.
Yes, our system is not the best but I believe that we as a community are all pulling together to make the very best of a not so perfect situation.
Thank God we have the hard working people we have in Princeton!
Regards,
Dianne Jones, Princeton
