SPEC Headlines, August 24, 2003

Belledune mayor Joseph Noel thinks Bennett Environmental is a good project
Gilles Gagné

The Mayor of Belledune, Joseph Noel, supports Bennett Environmental's project to build an incinerator for contaminated soil in the industrial park of his town. But he refuses to say that his area's urgent need for jobs dictates his viewpoint. Mr. Noel is a paramedic by trade who intends to retire in Belledune. He consequently wants a clean environment for his retirement and he would not support Bennett's venture if he did not believe that the operation of neutralizing soils contaminated with hydrocarbons and creosote could be done safely. "I think it is a good project. We are entering a new era. There are contaminants in our environment and we have to remove them. Some companies can do it safely. We have to worry about what is already there (in our environment), not only about what we are going to add", says Joseph Noel.

The Grand tour: A success for organizers and cyclists
Gilles Gagné
 
NEW RICHMOND - The Grand Tour of the Gaspé was billed a success by organizers and the 2,300 cyclists who took part in the eight day excursion around the Peninsula.
The participants left Amqui on August 2nd and ended their trip eight days later back in in the same town. Most of the cyclists were able to complete the run, although some of them abandoned the tour on August 8 because of the heavy rains, between Carleton and Matapedia. The rain only really effected their excursion one other day, during the run between Grand River and Paspébiac.
"Everybody should live such an experience at least once in a lifetime", said Renaud Tremblay, a resident of Amqui, backed by friends Ghislain Ruest and Sylvie Beaulieu, also from Amqui.

To cut delays, Via Rail will run separate trains for Gaspé and Halifax
Gilles Gagné
 
NEW RICHMOND - Many passengers of Via Rail 's Chaleur have noticed that the train has regularly been late since July 20th.. Many delays have been caused by a derailment and a couple of other incidents. Via officials have decided to correct the situation by running separate trains between Montreal and Gaspé, and Montreal and Halifax.

That decision, in effect since August 11th, will be in force until September 12th. Via Rail' spokesperson Malcolm Andrews explains that this factor will probably correct the situation indirectly.

"We cannot do many things when the passenger train is late because of the derailment of a CN freight train. That situation occurred on July 30th and over the following days because of a derailment in Villeroy, near Drummondville. For close to a week, our trains had to travel through Joliette and Shawinigan. They were accumulating six or seven hour delays right there. Other incidents linked to freight trains also impacted on our schedule, even if they were not newsworthy", states M. Andrews.