Burnaby Now September 29 2010

Burnaby’s first and favourite information source

Fundraising for new birthing bed

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Delivery 604-942-3081 • Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Rivers Day celebration

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Your source for local sports, news, weather and entertainment! >> www.burnabynow.com pedalling for a cure

CHEVRON OIL LEAK

‘Drastic’ measures needed Biologist says containing leak will be difficult while Chevron says it will continue to work with govt. to address problem Jennifer Moreau staff reporter

The north Burnaby Chevron refinery will continue leaking oil unless drastic measures are taken to stop the flow of groundwater offsite, according to a biologist from the David Suzuki Foundation. The leeching mix of gas, diesel and crude oil was first discovered in a routine inspection on April 21. It was pooling in a ditch next to the railroad tracks downhill from the property, and showing up on the beach below in the Burrard Inlet. The foundation’s John Werring has visited the leak site and is raising concerns after reviewing reports filed with the Environment Ministry on Chevron’s perimeter monitoring program. “The reports make it abundantly clear that Chevron has known for years that the groundwater and soils on their site are contaminated with hydrocarbons,” Werring wrote in an e-mail to the NOW. The hydrocarbons in question include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, light and heavy extractable crude, diesel and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). “Some of the most heavily contaminated areas have been dubbed ‘areas of environmental concern,’” he said. “Levels of these contaminants – with the exception of MTBE Chevron Page 9

Larry Wright/burnaby now

Tour for Cancer: The Canadian Cancer Society’s Tour de Coast cycling team stopped at Burnaby South Secondary on Monday. The Cops for Cancer team of 22 riders is on a nine-day bike ride to raise money for kids with cancer. Principal Gordon Li, with megaphone, stands beside RCMP youth services department officer Const. Sarah-Louise Murray.

City senior wants out of Chilliwack Daughter frustrated as she tries to bring mom back to Burnaby Janaya Fuller-Evans

staff reporter

When Burnaby resident Margaret Bailie fell and broke her leg while vacationing in Point Roberts, Washington, she was fortunate to be rushed over the border to the hospital in Delta. But that was the last of the 86-yearold’s luck, according to daughter Colleen Mullen. “We were going out for dinner for my sister’s 40th birthday, and my mother fell

on the way back,” Mullen said, adding the family has a summer cottage in Point Roberts. That was on Sept. 11. The fire department took her directly to Delta. “They were very good, very fast,” Mullen said. But the next day, Bailie was transferred to Chilliwack General Hospital, and the family wasn’t informed, she said. Mullen said she was told that Chilliwack was the hospital on call, taking patients for surgery in the region at the time, which is why Bailie wasn’t transferred to a hospital closer to her home in Burnaby. The journey was hard on Bailie, who was

given a lot of pain medication to manage the trip, Mullen said. “By the time they got there, her vitals were very low, she had low sodium levels and she was having trouble breathing,” she said. “She went straight to the ICU.” By the next evening, Sept. 13, Bailie was stable enough to have surgery. She stayed in the intensive care unit until Sept. 16, Mullen said, and then the orthopedic surgeon signed off on her case. But the family was told there was a new rule requiring patients to stay at the hospital where they’ve had their procedure for 14 Senior Page 4