Editor:
In the "news briefs" (Coast Reporter, May 11), you mention some of the recipients of the funding to enable participation in the federal environmental assessment (EA) for the proposed Burnco aggregate mine in West Howe Sound.
The last paragraph in your article may be confusing for some readers.
While the proposed mine may be 22 km southwest of Squamish, it is actually bythe McNab Creek estuary,just past the Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Mill on the Sunshine Coast. The site is directly opposite Gambier Island and the mine will be bigger than the aggregate mine in Sechelt.
Initially the processing plant may be active 12 hours per day, 260 days of the year. The conveyor belt loading facility will load 5,000 to 6,000 deadweight tonnage barges, and this activity initially is expected to be operational 300 days of the year.
West Howe Sound residents have grave concerns about the impact this facility will have, not only on the immediate Lower Coast area, but also on the whole of Howe Sound.
As you know, following the clean-up of the Britannia Mine effluent, Howe Sound is now beginning to recover from thedevastating toxiceffects of that mine. Marine life is returning to our area, and this recovery, the existing beauty and the superb recreational area will be jeopardized by this proposed mine.
Mark Hiltz, chair, West Howe Sound Community Association
