Selling celebrity in a bottle /31 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2006 Conjoined Marrying twins born men Thai in B.C. /5 one on /29 Kurt Cobain bigger than Elvis /17 $1.00 (HOME DELIVERED: 59 CENTS A DAY) Asphalt emissions anger residents Citizen staff Troubles with the asphalt plants along River Road was raised as an issue when about 165 people showed up for a People's Action Committee for Healthy Air meeting on Wednesday night. In response to questions raised about the plants, Ministry of Environment environmental protection officer Maureen Bilawchuck said all three plants are out of compliance in terms of their emission levels. "That's something that I'm not happy about, that's not something I'm proud about and I can see that there are a lot of people that are upset about it," she said. However, the process spelled out under provincial regulations for bringing the operations back into compliance is a long one. The plant in question must go through another test within a certain period and if it fails a second time, it must either submit a plan or go through another test. Moreover, there is nothing in the regulations that tells them they have to stop production in that time, Bilawchuck said. "It's a very long process, it's at least 120 days," she said. "And unfortunately, because the asphalt season is so limited, by the time you've figured out that they're out of compliance and they have exhausted their steps, there is no more time." That being said, Bilawchuck added it's reached the point where all have been asked to submit plans for improvements, "so that next year, you don't have to experience the same problem that you have this year." Bilawchuck also said a province-wide audit has show there has been general non-compliance in the asphalt production sector. North Nechako residents, who first took their complaints about the plants to city council in July, say the operations have continued to remain a problem in terms of smell, emissions and noise. Provincial legislation allows municipalities to impose further regulations on asphalt plants and city staff is currently working on a report to council, expected to be ready by early December, on possible options that can be taken. Emotions ran high during the meeting, not only over asphalt plants but also over the amount of fine particulate in Prince George air and efforts to mitigate the problem as government officials tried to explain the steps being taken. Citizen photo by David Mah HAVING A BALL -- Snowman building was going great Wednesday with the new snow at College Heights elementary until the middle collapsed but Braeden Davis, 7, was there to catch it. Canfor Pulp has strong first quarter LIVE ree! F FOR A YEAR CONTEST by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff The Canfor Pulp Income Fund had a stellar first quarter as a new company, but recent sawmill shutdowns have pushed up costs for wood chips as supplies tighten, which is a concern, the company's CEO said Wednesday. Paul Richards said the company -- which operates three pulp mills in Prince George -- has about a two-week supply, which is adequate, but he is concerned about the Christmas period when sawmills tend to take downtime during weak lumber markets. It's why Canfor Pulp has made arrangements to start up a whole-log chipping machine, Richards told analysts on a conference call to discuss the new entity's $41.9-million profit. He noted that chipping whole logs would cost more, an estimated $20 a tonne above the highest prices they would pay for wood chips, which has increased from the $40 range to $60. Richards said they would like to have the chipping facility up and running in November. "With the way the housing markets are, I don't know where it's going to go but I would like to be prepared in case we do see more announcements of downtime," he said. Lumber prices have plummeted since last spring because of the weakening housing market in the U.S. Although curtailments in north-central B.C. have not reduced lumber production much, more shutdowns are expected. Companies that have announced shutdowns include Canfor's Mackenzie sawmill, which is going down for two weeks starting Monday. Tolko Lumber in Quesnel has cut its third shift, and Cheslatta Forest Products in Burns Lake is closing down indefinitely. -- See CHIP on page 3 High : 6 Low : 0 page 2 E-Mail address: West Fraser reports loss of $8 million by GORDON HOEKSTRA Citizen staff West Fraser Timber, a perennial moneymaker in the forest sector, announced Wednesday a third-quarter loss of $8 million. The loss came on sales of $888 million. It is a significant reduction from the $104-million profit on sales of $890 million the company posted during the same period last year. The company remains in the black for the first nine months of the year, posting earnings of $102 million on sales of $2.599 billion. "The recent steep decline in U.S. housing starts and resulting decline in lumber prices dramatically affected our quarterly results," said Hank Ketchum, chairman, president and CEO of West Fraser Timber. "The low lumber prices not only resulted in lower revenue, but led to a write down of log and lumber inventories of approximately $36 million, or an after-tax amount of $24 million." West Fraser, a B.C.-based company, has extensive operations in northern B.C. It has sawmills in Smithers, Fraser Lake, Burns Lake, Chetwynd, Quesnel and Williams Lake. The company operates panel plants and pulp mills in the region, as well. Also on Wednesday, Abitibi Consolidated, which owns a major sawmill in northern B.C., reported a thirdquarter loss of $48 million (see page 22). Among its operations, Abitibi's newsprint business made $40 million, while its wood products division lost $33 million. Abitibi has shut down five sawmills in Quebec. Its sawmill operation in Mackenzie, 19 0 k i l o m et r e s n o r t h o f P r i n c e George, continues to operate. While pulp prices are solid, panel and lumber prices have plummeted in the second half of the year, a result of a weakening housing market in the U.S. ghoekstra@princegeorgecitizen.com Winds down power pole Citizen staff A power pole knocked over by high winds left more than 1,000 B.C. Hydro customers without power Wednesday afternoon. Located on North Nechako Road near Mathie Road, the poll went down at 2:40 p.m., B.C. Hydro said, affecting homes and businesses from Foothills Boulevard to the Hart Highway. A small fire was sparked in the process but was quickly extinguished and power was restored by about 5 p.m., said distribution line manager Vance Gerlib. The incident began just 15 minutes after wind pushed a tree over wires in the Denicola Crescent-Foreman Road area, a rural subdivision on the east side of the Fraser River and north of Highway 16 East, affecting 15 customers. Wind speeds were 32 kilometres per hour with gusts of 48 kilometres per hour at Prince George Airport, according to Environment Canada. news@princegeorgecitizen.com Our website: http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com INDEX Annie's Mailbox . . . . . . . . . 31 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Business . . . . . . . . . . . .22-24 City, B.C. . . . . . . . . . . 3,5,6,13 Classifi ed . . . . . . . . . . . 18-21 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . 17 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6,7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Citizen photo by David Mah 0 58307 00100 8 B.C. Hydro technician Harr y Walter bypasses lines around a burning power pole Wednesday afternoon at Nor th Nechako Road. 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