I wish to thank the Salmon Arm community and area residents for their support and concern with respect to coal trains and coal dust. The 400 people who signed the petition requesting an additional respray station east of Salmon Arm made a big difference in helping to launch the proposal.
Related: Coal dust escaping rail cars spurs petition
A special thanks to two local businesses for supporting the petition and having people sign at their establishments.
Mayor Nancy Cooper was instrumental in facilitating the connection with CP. Councillor Tim Lavery and The Environmental Assessment Committee were essential to this initiative going forward and being approved by the City of Salmon Arm. Erin Jackson, Administrator expertly guided me through the presentation process.
My gratitude to Chair Rhona Martin and the CSRD for enthusiastically supporting this request and helping to make this wetdown pilot project happen.
A big thank you to SABNES and The Shuswap Naturalist Club who also expressed strong support.
Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo has been most helpful in addressing the issue of coal dust from rail cars and very supportive of the wetdown pilot project just west of Revelstoke. Thank you also to North Okanagan-Shuswap MP Mel Arnold for his time and support.
Once CP and Teck conduct a review of the effectiveness of this wetdown pilot project this fall, the hope is that a permanent wetdown or respray facility will be constructed.
Marijke Dake
@SalmonArm
newsroom@saobserver.net
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