9 March 2010

ACC, MOE Ready for Forum Q&A

Kamloops British Columbia - Months of questions, protests, and finger-pointing by residents and politicians will come to a head on Thursday night at an information forum on a project to build a gasification plant in the city.
 
The Kamloops Chamber of Commerce has organized the forum that will see the president of Aboriginal Cogeneration Corporation (ACC) and officials from the Ministry of Environment answer questions from the public on the company's plans.
 
The forum will take place in Thompson Rivers University's Grand Hall from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
 
The format will allow for the ACC and the ministry to speak before opening the floor to questions from the public.
 
The chamber is encouraging written questions to avoid duplications.
 
Anyone who decides to ask a question at a microphone will be given one minute.
 
In January, the ACC was issued an air-discharge permit by the Ministry of Environment to allow the Manitoba-based company to operate a gasification facility on Mission Flats Road, where creosote-treated railway ties would be chipped and incinerated as part of an energy-creation facility.
 
The plan has ignited a flurry of opposition from the public and local politicians.
 
A group of citizens is planning a protest rally in the Central Plaza below the TRU Campus Activity Centre from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
 
Rally organizer John McNamer has called for a boycott of the forum, labelling the event a "fraud" and "strictly cosmetic."
 
But the chamber contends there is a misconception that the organization has taken a side on the issue.
 
Executive director Deb McClelland said the chamber has taken no position on the ACC's plan.
 
"The public was saying they were wanting more information and were unable to get it," she said.
 
"We felt we needed to provide that forum for them."
 
Jeremy Deutsch