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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1994-02-06, Page 1PUBLISHED IN LUc, KN. OVIt, ONTARIO Wednesdays February 16,1994 550 G.S.T. included Another 220 jobs gone at BNPD Unit A toclose in '95, but heavy water plant stays open By Bev Fry Kincardine News stats It was a bitter sweet Valentine's Day (or workers at Ontario Hydro's Bruce Nuclear Power Development. Hydro chairman Maurice Strong announced Monday afternoon, at a press conference in Toronto, that Unit Two at Bruce Generating Station A will be shut down, begin- ning in the fall of 1995,affecting about 220 jobs. But, the Bruce Heavy Water Plant will keep operating. The future of the plant had been in question, and along with it the futures of its 540 workers. Two units at the Lambton coal fired generating station in Sarnia and two more units at the Lennox oil fired generating station in Kingston will be mothballed for a total loss of 522 jobs over a three- year period. These capacity cuts should keep Hydro's rates stable and costs down, Strong, said. He announced Hydro's board of directors, which met Monday morn- ing had approved a 1995 electricity rate proposal for an increase of 1.4'. percent, the present rate of inflation. The utility didn't increase its rates in 1994: The Ontario Energy Board will review the proposal at its meeting in March, will make a recommen- dation and then Hydro's board will make its decision, Strong said. "This increase could only be made because of the board's deci- sion to reduce 2,700 megawatts of power and save over $200 million over the next 10 years." Strong said the board's decision will have "mitigating consequences on employees and the communities.' There is no way you can say there. will be no effects, but if we fail, the electricity bills will be greater and job prospects for the whole prov- ince will be at great risk. We have to take our customer's needs into account. We have to balance both." Hydro's revenues have been down three years in a row and the corpor- ation is trying to bring its \rates under control. Of the projected 520 job losses for operations staff with Hydro, Strong said "we are working.hard at minimizing job losses. Every major job in this province would be lost if we didn't make these decisions. "One thing is clear., The (520) positions will be lost when the At Wingham ,Hospital Docs, board agree to keep emerg open. .. en The Wingham District Hospital Board and the medical staff of the hospital have agreed to a proposal that would see , local physicians continue to provide continuous emergency department coverage until April 30, 1994. Several meetings were held during January regarding the issue, ' and a letter was received from Minister of Health Ruth Grier as- king both sides to keep talking past. any set deadlines so that all oppor- tunities could be fully explored. Hospital chief executive officer Lloyd Koch said Region 5 of the Ontario. Hospital Association (OHA) has scheduled a meeting with the health minister to discuss the regional concerns of .south-. western Ontario hospitals, and this would be the premier issue. Meanwhile, the medical staff at the Alexandra Marine and General Hospital in Goderich has agreed to push back the Jan. 31 deadline for at least two or three weeks. Board of governors chair Joe Porter said the medical staff agreed to the extension to wait for infor- mation from Med Emerg Inc., a Toronto -area firm that contracts to cover emergency wards. "The agreement was culmination of a three-month process during which a joint committee of the board and medical staff examined various alternatives that could be implemented to continue to provide 24-hour coverage," said Wingham and District Hospital Board chair Doug Fortune. "We felt it was important to give our community access to continuous emergency care." Hospital CEO Koch said the agreement will benefit the com- munity as it ensures continued. emergency' room coverage at the local hospital. He added the board. feels this is important to the com- mThe agreement calls for discus- sion to be initiated immediately, according to a news release, with a third party to provide medical coverage following the expiry of, this interim agreement. Payment of $300 per 24-hour period will be provided by the board, effective Feb. 1, 1994. Both sides stressed. that payment of doctors is . the responsibility of OHIP, and. had hoped that. the Ministry of Health in conjunction with the Ontario Medical As- sociation would come up , with a funding formula to cover the extra hours that rural physicians need to put in to ensure continuous emer- gency room coverage. Dr. Michael Shubat, president of the medical staff, noted that a par- ticular area of concern was the coverage form 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. when few patients require the emer- gency department, but a physician is required to be available throughout the night and still run their office the next. day. He stressed that there is a shortage of doctors in the area and even with . the stipend provided, there will continue to be a need to attract new physicians to the area to work in the emergency room and join the local, physicians in their practice. 'turn to page 2 • facilities are shut down, but we are going to work out measures to retain employees' skills. Yes, that's vague." Bruce A manager Ken Talbot said he hoped attrition would take care of some of the job losses. There are 1,774 employees at Bruce A apd about 350 of them . work at Unit Two. Talbot said once the unit has been been put in a "lay-up state, like suspended .animation", a~ skeleton crew will monitor the condition .of the equipment, the state of the turbine, keep the unit clean. "They made a reasonable deci- sion. The unit has not been shut down. It can be rehabilitated if the . electrical load increases." Talbot said the announcment was .not *ally unexpected. "This unit was the lame duck of the bunch. "I had rationalized in my mind something would have to take place in nuclear. We are a base load generator and that is where the excess power is." Union disputes figures Power Workers' Union president John Murphy, . who also spoke , at Monday's press conference, dis- puted Strong's figures.. He said 1,500 jobs would be lost when the facilities are shut down. "They (the board) are misleading the public in terms of job impact '... these are actual jobs lost directly' within Hydro ... take the indirect jobs and there's a hell of a lot more." A community impact study released in 1993 and using Ontario Hydro figures stated that if one unit at Bruce Generating Station A were to be shut down, 821 primary jobs would be lost. "We've been living in a period of uncertainty for 18 months now. This will prolong the uncertainty until 1996. I don't know how much longer people can take living on the edge," union spokesman at the BNPD site Brad Kirkconnell said. He said the union will be asking for a full ,public review of the deci- sion. "The board can • only make a decision on what they've been told so hopefully after a. full review, they will' reverse their decision." More than 20 teams competed in the 5th Annual Mushball Tournament in Lucknow this past weekend. The event, organized by the Lucknow and District Kinsmen, saw the Lucknow Lancers take first place while the Mushketeers came second. Future financing looks dim for St. Helen's street light St. Helen's lone streetlight may not burn brightly much longer. It all depends'uponthe community. The. St. Helen's Women's Institute has .paid the electric bills for the light for more than 20 years, according to Elaine Errington, the group's public relations officer. She says it started when a former St. Helen's store owner installed the light. Later when a newoccupant of the store objected to paying the light bill, a "donations box" was set out to help offset the cost of electricity for the light. People dropped in bits of money which added together, were usually enough to pay the bill. When donations were insufficient, St. Helen's WI fupplemented the fund. Eventually, the WI members became the keepers of the, light, taking over all payments of- the light bill and hosting an annual community supper to help raise the money. But the passing years have brought changes. St. Helen's WI has fewer members now - only 13, about half the number of another time. The members who remain are getting older, and though they are faithful, they are less able to do the work required of the group to keep the light burning. ' As the women's ability to raise money diminishes, the annual cost of the light increases. While no definitive amount was available at presstime, it is thought to be "hundreds of dollars". What began as an affordable service to the community, has become a terrible burden for a small, aging group of women. One more "light fund dinner" is planned for March. The date will be settled on at the March Reefing of the WI, and the ladies will call on the community for its support. If there's enough money raised to pay the bills for another year, the light will burn. If not, Mrs. Errington fears the worst. St. Helen's corner may be in' darkness. And that, says Mrs. Errington, would be a 'landmark lost forever. Would the ladies ever refer the matter to West Wawanosh Council? Perhaps. But the St. Helen's light is a matter of pride for the tiny hamlet - and for the WI. Municipal assistance would only be sought as a last resort - and there's a valuable lesson in good citizenship everyone can learn from that attitude. 4i ..•.�. ..:1:ri:fi ::i;ryr,`.. �, r:i, ?4. .' : :' i'� :'�'. :. .. .,, . ":.:'. ..... ... � .. ... .. � .. .. �.. .....4. is r{'•�.