On the day of your blast, I drove to the site at about 1:30 pm and saw no activity, nor any person in the vicinity of your hole. I have not been out there since. I was, however, followed by a local red SUV, which as it turns out, was driven by two RCMP officers. I had an important interview lined up with CBC "As it Happens" which was scheduled for 2:15 pm, so rather than risk being detained at that time by the police, I left my car there and headed back through the bush to Shearwater, where I arrived in time for that interview. Having completed that, I spent the rest of the day around Shearwater, doing some computer work etc. Later that evening, I attended a local party at "the Cannery" where I enjoyed the evening with my family and numerous community members.

 

At about 11:00 pm, apparently at the time of your blast, (which was contrary to the time you reported to our community, which was slated for 3 am on the morning of July 17th), I was returning home to our floathouse with my family, so perhaps due to the noise of the boat, we missed experiencing the effects of your blast. Nevertheless, numerous friends at the party have later reported to me that at about 11 pm, they saw the night sky "lit right up" for several seconds above the aerodrome. I have not yet returned to the site because, frankly, I was exhausted and felt that I had done as much as I could do, and if you insisted on forcing your blast on our community, with RCMP back-up, it was clear that I would be unsuccessful.

It is very regrettable that your Texas blaster was so inexperienced in the handling of primacord, that he

"...was involuntarily promoted to the bomb squad with no additional training..."

In my book, "involuntarily" means that he must have been forced to do that, and with no training, you put him in a very dangerous and terrifying situation against his will. That would put you squarely in the terrorist camp. As for my action, I have worked for many years handling primacord in the seismic business, and I know full well that what I did was neither dangerous to myself, or to anyone else who knew what they were doing.

Frankly, leaving a loaded unmarked hole packed with 395 kg of explosives for two weeks with no perimeter, no security, and no notice whatsoever to our community, or even the local RCMP detachment, not to mention that the hole was drilled directly in the middle of the local rifle range where our locals go to practice target shooting, and which can be evidenced by thousands of spent shell casings which litter the ground, including right around your hole, was an extremely reckless, careless thoughless act, on par with the caliber of your Batholiths PR community outreach program. Perhaps your blaster is aware that a well-aimed rifle shot can detonate primacord?

One other point which I would like to make is that what all this Batholiths nonsense clearly demonstrates is the complete incompetence and impotence of the farcical Greenwash PR scam developed by the Gordon Campbell government in collboration with ForestEthics, Greenpeace and the Sierra Club of BC, known as the "Eco-system Based Management" (EBM) component of the "Great Bear Rainforest" management scheme. There is no mention whatsoever that your Batholiths project, ILMB, or any other government agency you dealt with complied with, or even knew of cared about EBM, or that the Great Bear Rainforest has been recognized and identified as a precious primaeval wilderness region which demands the utmost care from those who would exploit it.

I sincerely hope that this will be the last time we will have to endure your "Batholiths Project"

Cheers, Ingmar