White Gold and Nesters residents may have successfully opposed a gas station in Whistler, but Howe Sound area residents are fighting 60-acre liquefied natural gas storage site proposed for the McNab Creek area. According to a press release issued by Lions Bay Mayor Brenda Broughton, the site proposed by Westcoast Gas Services Inc. would require 12,000 cubic metres of blasted rock, a 7 km hydro right-of-way through forest, a barge docking facility and 25 acres of buildings which would be lit 24 hours a day by perimeter flood and strobe lights. The site would be visible from the Sea to Sky Highway and from communities in Howe Sound. If approved, Westcoast Gas Services would begin building the facility in early 1998. Broughton says the facility will not bring natural gas to any new consumers, but rather will supplement industrial requirements on Vancouver Island. She says the facility will only provide 12 new full-time jobs. "Westcoast first assured residents the site would have minimal environmental impact and not be visible, but once we started reading about the massive application it was obvious this is not the case," Broughton says. "They now admit everyone who has a sight line up the sound between Anvil and Gambier Islands will be able to see it. The tank alone is bigger than the Agrodome." Westcoast held a public information meeting at the Howe Sound Inn and Brewing Company in Squamish Nov. 5. Another public information meeting is scheduled for the Lions Bay School Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.
