Mike Pearson's Adventures on a Pale Blue Dot

PAG means "potentially acid generating"....I won't go into the deep details, but some kinds of rock interact with water to produce an acid tainted environment. This isn't the stuff that might burn you hands, but it will eat at reinforcing steel over time. It is generally considered to be an environmental problem in large mines where water run-off can poison the downstream areas and oceans ( see Britannia mine site history ) On the Sea to Sky highway job, the PAG sites were identified by engineers and geo-techs and flagged for removal from the site. All of the ID'd PAG material was trucked to this site at Porteau Cove, and loaded onto this barge. I have no clue where it was shipped to, or whether it was dumped in one of the government approved ocean dumping grounds ( yes, we actually have those...there is an active one just off Point Grey) These are photos from the fly-overs and photo shoots during the construction of the new highway Metro Blasting ...

This is a helicopter view of the work site, several months after these photo were taken. Some pioneering road work done, and some of the trees removed. I think that the reason for calling the site "2 Pole " should be obvious now. ( upper right in the photo ) These are a set of photos that I just recovered from some old DVD discs. This is a BC Hydro crew working to install new power poles and lines on the overland route section of the Sea to Sky highway project. They were likely taken sometime in 2007 or so. I believe that the helicopter was a 205 belonging to Blackcomb Aviation, flown by Garret Mack ( I think I hope...correct me if that's wrong ) The location is the wild and nasty Cut 9, approximately 110 or 120 meters vertically above the Squamish highway. For anyone who knows the territory, this is the site of "2 Pole "...a landmark feature of Cut 9. The blasting for the power-pole holes ( in solid rock ) was done by Glenn from Howe Sound Drilling and...

I have had some old DVD discs for a while that somehow managed to get to the point where my computer wouldn't read them. Luckily one of my friends has some pricey editing programs that could do the job for me. The result was like finding lost and forgotten treasures. Some of these photos are different angles and shots that I never published before. Others are from completely different shooting days. Still others weren't used before, because they weren't as "cool" as the ones that I chose to print or publish. Still other images are not that radically different from the already published ones, but worthwhile adding to the group. Now that the trucks have been moved from that perfect location ( safe from the scrappers ) I guess that all the photos are worthwhile. There are a few shots with some funky lighting going on. It was a darkish fall day, and I packed in a generator and several 500w work-lights to brighten up the setting. Turned out not too bad for a fir...