Writer Takes Issue With Editorial

I think the Editorial on February 5, 2015 in the Nanaimo News Bulletin is the most disrespectful and poor journalism I have read in a long time! You would think someone writing editorials in a paper would be interested in the facts before they publish an article. The fact is many of the people that the author suggests do not put public safety first do not live high on a hill on the north side of Nanaimo but in the houses just below the dam. It is their homes, property and lives that are at risk if the dam fails. These are hard working, intelligent people from many walks of life that love their homes, neighbours, parks and all that live in Nanaimo.

The only problem with these people unlike the majority of the old city council and staff is that they were intelligent enough to ask questions and not follow like sheep. The first question that should have been asked by staff and council is what changed since the last engineering study to change the dam from being in good condition to remove immediate or 150 will die? Did we have a major earth quake, rains of biblical portions or found cracks in the dam? The answers to all those questions was no. The only thing that changed the engineering company doing the work. When you look at their report the big question is it based on scientific fact or guess work? After reading it, one would think it was based on the idea that the dams are old there for most likely they are weak, without rebar and poorly designed. The cement is old there for not of good quality and weak due to being old. All after being forced to get scientific fact proved wrong. Dam have rebar, good cement, well anchored and designed. For a fact the dams will not break in 5 minute due to an earth quake. For those who do not believe the people wanting to save dams are they not the same that are in the lead wanting to make Nanaimo safe, I want to tell you the earth is not flat! Look at the scientific facts not unfounded assumptions!

The City of Nanaimo also received a letter in late January from the B.C. government approving a change in risk classification from extreme, to “high” for the middle dam and “very high” for the lower dam,...." . It is NOT a RISK classification. It is a CONSEQUENCE classification. In other words the classification has nothing to do with actual "probability/risk" of the dams failing. All this means is that IF the dams fail then the consequence of such a failure would be High and Very High according to the criteria established by the regulations (see Schedule 1 of the Regulations).

Terrance Wagstaff

Nanaimo