Old MathJax webview

Old MathJax webview

BCMC did not reply to emails or phone calls from O'neill. The Mountain River Times informed him that O'Hara is a retired citizen of Fast River and now lives in Florida and writes articles occasionally about matters of interest to him. The editor of the Mountain River Times, however, indicated he would be prepared, in the spirit of fair journalism, to print opposing viewpoints. Next week, Baxter answered with a "open letter to Fast River locals." In his letter, he encouraged the people of Fast River to reject the BCMC proposal until a comprehensive environmental assessment has been carried out and the council decides if they are entitled to approve the project. His letter further outlined some of his investigations on the largely unproven safety record of the high tech raft as a conduit and possible damage from a river disaster by overthrowing the rafts and collapsing the container. He also encouraged public discussion on the webpage of the FCF where he uploaded his open letter to back up every point he made regarding the insufficiency of BCMC's proposal. Finally, he contacted his FCF support network, which included many overseas supporters and other civil society groups with direct or indirect interest in FCF operations. Within 24 hours, 24,000 visitors were made to the FCF website, Baxter received over 200 e-mails from various parties including the provincial authorities, the federal government, the raft maker, the container design engineer and the national media. More than 400 requests for more information and more than 400 emails were received by the Fast River Council, many of them from people opposing the BCMC plan. A community group from South Africa has written to the Council to express their concern over the dealings between Fast River and BCMC. It claims their community, also on the river, is a site for the "proof of concept" testing of BCMC which leads to two spills before "getting it right and wiping out the marine ecosystem of the river basintheir letter was posted on the FCF and on the Mountain Website. The government has been criticised at all levels for its reaction to the issue. Two weeks later, the Fast River Council overwhelmingly rejected the BCMC proposal and engaged an independent environmental assessment company to examine BCMC's current environmental legislation. Provincial and federal authorities monitor the situation carefully, according to reports. Jim Baxter couldn't believe what he read in Fast River Alberta's Mountain River Times, a small town newspaper. "Council Supports Caustic Chemical Rafting" is the headline today. Calvin O'Hara welcomed earliest indications that the Municipal Council of Fast River would allow the Company of Blue Chip (BCMC) in the newly developed 'environmentally friendly' raft to transport its chemical waste to a reservoir of the river basin, to be loaded onto the railway for transportation to a 150-mile long-distance incinerator. In return, BCMC would pay a "environmental cost" to the municipality of Fast River for cost savings in relation to the normal method for transporting waste to the depot. Baxter had previously been involved in the manufacturing of silicone chips, where he was well aware of the caustic character of several by-products. He was surprised by the fact that any elected official could support the proposed practise of BCMC, considering his current position as a researcher in the grassroots organisation Friends of Canada Freshwaters (FCF) that works to preserve Canadian fresh water from industrial contamination.

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