Letter to the Editor Re. Offshore Oil and Gas

Dear Ms. Jubb, I am writing with reference to your article entitled “BC Offshore Oil and Gas Development Economic Outlook” on pages 4 and 6 of Sustainability Now – Vol 3, Issue 2. I do not intend into intrude into the debate in BC about the possible removal of the ban on offshore oil and gas exploration; however, as your article expresses an opinion on the impacts of oil and gas development on Newfoundland and Labrador I feel compelled to comment. I think the referenced article is incomplete, misleading and misrepresents the facts about the positive impacts of offshore oil development in this province. I believe that you and APEGBC members would be better informed if you read a report from November 2003 entitled “Socio-Economic Benefits of NL Petroleum Industry” prepared for Petroleum Research Atlantic Canada (PRAC) by Community Resource Services Limited. This report can be found on the PRAC website at www.pr-ac.ca. Whatever the decision in BC about offshore oil and gas exploration we believe that the oil and gas industry has been very positive for this province. Regards. Steve McLean, P. Eng. Professional Engineers and Geoscientists Newfoundland and Labrador tel: (709) 753-7714 fax: (709) 753-6131 e-mail: smclean@pegnl.ca
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Letter to the Editor Re. Offshore Oil and Gas

Dear Ms. Jubb, I am writing with reference to your article entitled “BC Offshore Oil and Gas Development Economic Outlook” on pages 4 and 6 of Sustainability Now – Vol 3, Issue 2. I do not intend into intrude into the debate in BC about the possible removal of the ban on offshore oil and gas exploration; however, as your article expresses an opinion on the impacts of oil and gas development on Newfoundland and Labrador I feel compelled to comment. I think the referenced article is incomplete, misleading and misrepresents the facts about the positive impacts of offshore oil development in this province. I believe that you and APEGBC members would be better informed if you read a report from November 2003 entitled “Socio-Economic Benefits of NL Petroleum Industry” prepared for Petroleum Research Atlantic Canada (PRAC) by Community Resource Services Limited. This report can be found on the PRAC website at www.pr-ac.ca. Whatever the decision in BC about offshore oil and gas exploration we believe that the oil and gas industry has been very positive for this province. Regards. Steve McLean, P. Eng. Professional Engineers and Geoscientists Newfoundland and Labrador tel: (709) 753-7714 fax: (709) 753-6131 e-mail: smclean@pegnl.ca
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Exhibit Projects win 2004 CEBC Awards!

Many of the innovative sustainable projects showcased in Sustainability 2004: Greening the Built Environment have won awards at the 2004 Consulting Engineers of BC Awards for Engineering Excellence. They are: Award of Merit: Whiterock Operations Building by Keen Engineering Award of Excellence: Little Mountain Reservoir Reconstruction by Sandwell Engineering Award of Merit: River Street Water Treatment Plant by Urban Systems and Stantec Consulting Congratulations!
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Novex Transportation Case Study

Novex is a medium-sized business which has implemented simple costeffective environmental solutions with involvement at all levels of business: from customers to drivers. Building awareness and understanding of the benefits of being eco-efficient, was the first step in engaging its Novexs staff and drivers. The company has found that as a result of Novex Clean, staff morale has improved as well as productivity. To check out the Novex Case study done by the GVRD, follow the link below.
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The Sheltair Group Bridging the Future Project

The International Gas Union (IGU) has initiated the next phase of their groundbreaking Sustainable Urban Systems Design (SUSD) initiative by awarding a contract to The Sheltair Group to begin a project called “Bridging to the Future.” Bridging to the Future will develop long-term plans called pathways for five urban areas around the globe. The pathway for each city will integrate urban and energy planning in the context of different scenarios for energy costs. A desirable pathway will use natural gas and other fossil fuels as a bridge to renewable energy and sustainable urban systems. Pathways define the steps and directions to achieve a resilient energy infrastructure. They provide a route to safer, healthier urban systems over the next 40 years.
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Impact off Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration on Whales

Dr. Weilgart is a Professor in the Biology Department at Dalhousie University. She has studied whales for the past 20 years, specializing in the issue of undersea noise pollution and its impact on whales. This presentation gives a concise summary of the impact of offshore oil and gas exploration methods on marine mammals. Click on the link below to “Impact of Seismic Surveys on Whales” to view the presentation.
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The Sustainable Condo

As the majority of the world population lives today in cities, urban sustainability is becoming the main challenge of the 21st century. The sustainable condo is an educative travelling display that illustrates and promotes leading edge sustainable building design, products, technologies, and systems. It aims at bringing substantial reductions in environmental impacts, energy and resource consumption into the urban residential condominium market without any significant cost increase. Developed by EcoSmart, supported by Western Economic Diversification Canada, designed by Busby and build by Ledcor, the project is the result of an outstanding collaboration effort by government officials, architects, engineers, contractors, manufacturers and suppliers. This project reinforces the position of British Columbia, Canada as a leader in green building design and technologies. The unit was displayed in March 2004 at the Globe 2004 Trade Fair in Vancouver. It is now open to the public at the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) in Vancouver in from August 21, 2004 to September 6, 2004.
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EcoSmart Concrete Winter 2004 Newsletter

EcoSmart concrete is produced by replacing cement in the concrete mix with a maximum amount of supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) while maintaining or improving the cost, physical performance and constructability. The EcoSmart Partnership is working to develop Ecosmart concrete technology through case studies, applied research and knowledge management. To view the winter newsletter from EcoSmart Concrete, follow the link below.
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