The Editor,
Re. "Pipeline foes aim to protect local park" (The Tri-City News, April 2).
It was wonderful to see so many concerned citizens turnout at Kinder Morgan's open house last week to inform themselves about the plan to use a 1 km strip of land at Colony Farm Regional Park in Coquitlam for assembly of its pipeline that will cross the Fraser River.
It provides the opportunity for all Tri-City residents to consider what contributes to a good quality of life within our communities. At the top of that list for me and my family is our parks. The Lower Mainland's urban areas that are appealing, livable and beautiful have found a good balance between parks and development.
The Tri-Cities have some of the most impressive parkland in Metro Vancouver, including the Riverview Hospital grounds and Colony Farm Regional Park. Unfortunately, and once again, we must fight to keep our parks public. With the recent announcement that U.S.-based Kinder Morgan plans to use Colony Farm Regional Park as a place to assemble its pipeline, we risk losing our park to corporate profit.
Our parks belong to the people and should never be considered for such industrial uses. Parks give families the opportunity to recreate, reduce stress levels and keep our communities healthy and livable. Any realtor would confirm that parks, trails, and salmon-bearing creeks increase property value.
Are our children at risk of losing their vital connection to nature if we continue to erode our parks bit by bit? Do any of us actually support pipeline construction at Colony Farm and Bill 4 that opens the door to industrial development of our provincial parks?
I urge those who care about our parks to speak out now, speak out loudly to keep our parks public.
Laura Dupont, Port Coquitlam
'SHOCKING'
The Editor,
It was truly shocking to hear that Kinder Morgan is proposing to assemble a pipeline in Colony Farm Regional Park in Coquitlam. The company claims the work will not disturb the public recreation area, which clearly indicates how wrongly KM understands nature conservation and the park.
The park is not just for public recreation but heavily serves our ever decreasing wildlife. Any disturbance to any part of the park will seriously affect wildlife.
Just one of the latest disasters caused by human activities around the Colony Farm is the loss of the breeding colony of the great blue heron caused by the construction of the Port Mann Bridge. Constant, heavy noises at the construction site caused serious disturbances and eventual loss of the colony. There used to be a hundred breeding pairs there, the largest colony in the Fraser Valley, but after the construction started, they abandoned the nesting site.
Colony Farm Regional Park is ever threatened in our region due to the pressure of human activities but still supports good number of important migratory birds such as the Lazuli bunting, mountain bluebird, eastern kingbird, purple martin, Swainson's hawk, barn swallow and barn owl, plus many other creatures that support the lives of our important wildlife.
Let us not be fooled by Kinder Morgan, with its advertising stating it is committed to protect the environment, without studying the importance of all wildlife.
Kiyoshi Takahashi, Coquitlam
