Ridley Terminals under the spotlight after Northern View exclusive

For newspaper reporters, we imagine there are a few signals that the story you are working on is going to be one that makes for much discussion in the community, your work destined to be examined from start to finish.

For the Northern View's Martina Perry, that moment probably came when George Dorsey, RTI President and CFO, abruptly ended the discussion and the nature of her questions.

"When questioned by The Northern View about the concerns raised by multiple sources regarding RTI's containment systems and dust-mitigation measures, Dorsey declined further comment and ended the interview. 

 "When they come out of the shadows, I'll be glad to talk to them," Dorsey said."

Ms. Perry's article, grabbing a total of five pages of the Wednesday, May 29th edition and featuring a number of photos provided by insiders at the Terminal, certainly has provided for some discussion points on aspects of the Terminal operations.  In particular, the impact that those operations are having on the environment off the shores of Ridley Island.

It's a particularly timely contribution to the discussion on local industry, owing to the nature of the expansion taking pace at Ridley Terminals and with the Terminal itself up for sale at the moment.

And while Mr. Dorsey, perhaps isn't thrilled that someone working on site is sending news tips and photos off to the weekly paper, the issue of the environment and Ridley's impact on it, is certainly a topic that is going to be of concern to the community.

Declining to have further comment on the situation, isn't something that is going to make the issue go away, nor does it make one of the City's top employers look particularly good in the public eye in this instance.

From the article, it would seem that at the least, perhaps a review of the containment procedures currently in place is required. With corrections to the current system in use, if required, made with the utmost of urgency.

That should be a starting point for Ridley Terminals, with the Terminal looking to the future with its current expansion project, it would seem to make sense that the environmental concerns that have been raised by the paper need to be addressed.

In fact, with the prospect of increased shipments out of the Terminal in the years to come, making sure that the shipment process is state of the art and keeping to environmental standards should be the main focus of the company.

Ms. Perry's work, is well worth a read, an impressive (if lengthy)  review of the situation from the Weekly paper and it is an article that may surprise many in the community.

At times, over the last few months, many readers have taken the Northern View to task over it's pro business themes. Based in part from recent editorials on the provincial election, LNG development and other industrial issues, the impression at times has been that theirs is a journal that is of the opinion of development at all costs.

The Ridley article, shows that the weekly paper can cover issues of concern to all in the community.

Ridley Terminals is a key employer in the community and obviously an important part of the local economy, however, with that comes a responsibility to its neighbours.

The Northern View's article shows that the media has a place to not only celebrate progress in the region, but to ensure that local industry keeps that part of the compact of being in good standing with the community they work in.

You can review Ms. Perry's work from their Internet portal in two locations, posted to the web here and through their E Edition (Pages 15-19) .

And of course you can thumb through the print edition delivered to your door last night (or available around town), we suspect the publisher would think that to be the best option of the bunch.

Update:

Ridley Terminals issued a statement on Thursday, outlining that it is currently conducting an investigation into the situation to determine if there is any facutal basis for the issues that the Northern View raised. You can read the full statement, as posted to the Northern View website on Thursday here.

The Northern View further advised on Friday that Environment Canada and the Prince Rupert Port Authority have begun their own investigation into the coal dumping issues at Ridley Terminals (see article here)

CFTK-- RTI Coal Dump (video)
The Northern View-- Ridley Terminals whistleblowers say work is underway at the site