Exisiting camps sufficient to meet needs in Pink Mtn.
Camp operators and landowners in Pink Mountain feel it makes little sense to grant a temporary use permit for the construction of yet another work camp in an area that already has a surplus of beds, waiting to be used.
Several camp owners brought their concerns to the Peace River Regional District Board on Sept. 14.
Melody Magaton, is the owner and operator of three lodges in Pink Mountain, which she says are open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.
“We cater to trucking, tourist, travellers, locals and oil and gas,” said Magaton. “There’s no power out there. We generate our own diesel power, at a cost of $2,000 a day. It takes a lot of hamburgers to keep our generators on.”
Magaton says she relies on the oil and gas industry to keep these services open. “Between Fort St. John and Fort Nelson, we are the only full-service place still open. Most are boarded up, and it’s a sad thing.”
There are so many abandonned camps in the Pink Moutain area, she said, because there wasn’t enough business to go around.
“Now there’s another camp proposing to come in, half a mile from our location. There are so many beds in Pink Mountain right now – we’re not turning people away, we’re trying to get them in.”
“The application says the pipeline needs to be filled, and there will be an influx of workers. That’s great,” she said. “They’ll fill 65 per cent of the beds that are already in Pink Mountain. Businesses in the area can make up for some of the loss they have suffered while waiting for the pipeline to be finished.”
Another camp operator, John Moore, president and CEO of Royal Camp Services told the board that between various already established camps located along the Alaska Highway between Wonowon and Mile 175 there are approximately 2,800 beds available. In addition to the accommodations currently provided, the exisiting camps provide jobs for residents of the Pink Mountain area.
“If you branch off onto other roads, you add in another 300 beds,” Moore said. However, several of those off-highway camps are “abandonned, shuttered and will never open up unless there’s a certain project in that area,” he said. The peak usage of the camps last year was 50 per cent.
“For that reason alone, I think this permit should be pushed aside and not approved.”
However, Moore didn’t stop there. In building a camp of the proposed size, with 200-300 beds, the amount of sewage effluent produced could potentially double what is allowed under Ministry of Health guidelines. It would be the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Environment, Moore said.
Greg Wilson, part owner of the property where Royal Camp Services’ 147 Lodge is located, said that he has spent $300,000 putting in turning lanes and other infrastructure to meet Federal government requirements.
“Putting another camp in is very unfair to the people who have spent money trying to keep exisiting camps operational.”
According to Doug Petersen, who was present at the meeting representing Jim Gordon who owns the land in question, the people behind the camp do see a need for a higher end camp in the area.
“The people who want to put in the camp have been approached by industry to put in a higher end camp, like a Hilton,” said Petersen. “They have provided all the reports and paperwork required by the PRRD to get the temporary use permit.”
Petersen said the proponents say they’re having a hard time attracting workers in the North, and getting them to stay in the North, and keep working to get these projects done.
“In order to proceed with their RFPs, they need to have a piece of land secured, otherwise they cannot proceed with cost evaluations and so forth,” Petersen said. “I would appreciate it if you would pass this motion, so we can get a temporary use permit and move forward.”
Following Petersen’s plea, a number of letters were read out by staff, including local First Nations members whose concerns largely mirrored those of who spoke directly to the board.
John Warren, of Blueberry River First Nation Royal Services expressed his “deep concern and disagreement” over the proposed project. “I believe the addition of a 200-300 person camp in an oversaturated area brings several negative impacts to the area,” his letter read. “Including several detrimental effects on Indigenous reconciliation, the environment, public safety, community investment and local employment.”
Many camps in the area are both functional and abandonned, and the saturated market cannot handle another, Warren said.
Area B Director Jordan Kealy requested that the recommendation be deferred until after his next community meeting in the Wonowon area, which a lot of Pink Mountain people attend, he said.
“I want to gather more information on this. I don’t want to approve something that’s bad for the community.”
It was unanimously decided to defer the matter of the temporary use permit (No. 23-002) to build the work camp at Pink Mountain until a November meeting.