The Ajax issue comes down to location, location, location

A couple of comments from Coun. Marg Spina at today’s City council meeting got straight to the nub of the Ajax mine issue.

Cherise Udell of the Utah Moms for Clean Air, who also made a presentation at Sunday’s public meeting hosted by the Kamloops Moms for Clean Air (which I was pleased to moderate) was speaking to council about the impacts of Rio Tinto’s giant Kennecott Mine near Salt Lake City.

Spina first wanted to know how far Salt Lake is from the ocean, which she seemed to feel is of some relevance to the discussion. She then noted that she has asked many local and provincial officials their opinions of Ajax and is routinely told that all the information isn’t in yet.

The councillor added that City council does not have the authority to approve or reject the mine.

Both of these points are well-known. The answer to her second point is that council does not have authority, but it has influence, so it’s of little value to the debate for the mayor and councillors to keep bringing it up.

As to her comment about waiting for information before forming an opinion, I say this — the environmental impact, while important, is not the only factor in need of consideration. The major issue is this: location, location, location.

If this were the cleanest open-pit mine in the world, would you want it in the City of Kamloops? If the answer is no, then you should feel perfectly comfortable in saying so, without waiting for environmental reports. Coun. Donovan Cavers and Coun. Tina Lange have come to that conclusion.

Following Sunday’s forum hosted by the Moms, Dr. Brian Moench of Salt Lake, who also made a presentation, made the comment, while looking at the scale model of the proposed Ajax mine, that in the U.S. a mine located so close to a city wouldn’t even be considered, regardless of environmental studies.

Councillors clearly don’t know much about Kennecott. They admit this. They should find out, and look at other open-pit operations, too, while they’re waiting for those studies and reports to be finished.

By the way, my favourite quote from today’s meeting came from Mayor Peter Milobar, who told Udell, “It’s pretty scary looking air quality you have there.”