Written by FRANK PEEBLES
Citizen staff
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Sunday, 05 October 2008 |
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COLIN KINSLEY
"We think it is important to move on the gravel removal," Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General John van Dongen told The Citizen on Sunday. He was responding to a comment made by the city's chief engineer, David Dyer, indicating the province had turned down a $225,000 phase of study on the issue.
"We believe the studies that have been done are sufficient to know that gravel removal is one of the priority strategies to mitigate flood danger for Prince George, and we have to get going on doing that," said van Dongen. "They (city staff) sent us a letter in August asking for further planning work, although that letter did not come to me directly. I think it is important to acknowledge that we have already invested $300,000 or more on feasibility and planning work that happened last year and this spring, and there is general agreement now that we actually have to start doing some actual work."
The application process is a long and sometimes enigmatic one, van Dongen said. There are at least three government agencies involved - Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Transport Canada, and the B.C. Ministry of Environment - and perhaps others. Each of them takes site-specific information into their consideration and so the applicant never knows until they are involved in the application process just what any of them might require.
"The minimum timeline, according to the estimates by my staff, is six weeks and upwards from there, so it is important to get the application process going, and at the same time start on the other mitigation strategies as well," he said. "I can't stress enough how important it is to begin the application process, and we will certainly help Prince George officials do that, I think there is a recognized common interest in preventing flood situations at the confluence of the Nechako and Fraser rivers."
Van Dongen said the province already approved $2 million in flood mitigation strategies for Prince George and much of that work can begin immediately. He added that the total provincial budget for flood prevention was $16 million so Prince George got a significant chunk of that, and there was $173 million worth of applications from across B.C. to consider.
He was out on the river himself inspecting the Fraser-Nechako confluence last week, plus a series of meetings with city staff, mayor Colin Kinsley, and MLAs Shirley Bond and Pat Bell.
"It is their understanding from the consultation process and the studies that have been done that the public in Prince George generally supports gravel removal as an important priority," he said.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 05 October 2008 )
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