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September
1998 Newsletter
Trees
Being Cut in January?
A
regional government report released on July 9 suggests that
desecration of the valley may be attempted this coming winter.
The report shows that "construction" of the north-south
expressway is scheduled to "start in summer/fall 1999".
However, it also reveals plans for "preparation prior to
construction (starting in early winter)" including the following
steps: "selective clearing and plant salvage from road corridor;
road corridor clearing; stream realignment not associated
with expressway construction sites".
The
Canadian Environmental Assessment Act clearly states that
a federal environmental assessment must take place "before
irrevocable decisions are made" and empowers the Minister
of the Environment to "prohibit the proponent of a project
from doing any act or thing that would commit the proponent
to ensuring that the project is carried out in whole or
in part until the assessment is completed".
Consequently
any attempt by the region to begin clearing the expressway
right-of-way before the federal assessment is completed
would be illegal. This doesn't guarantee the region won't
do it, since they have played loose and easy with the assessment
law in the past.
The
region's report admits that the federal assessment must
take place but declares that "these federal requirements
are not expected to affect the scheduling of construction".
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