Vanoc has claimed that the 2010 Olympics will be a green and eco friendly one, after all the third pillar of the olympics after sport and culture is environment. On speaking of the Power options for the games, Paul Toom, Director of Energy for the games says: “Quiet, no odor — just the sounds and smells of nature, that’s the experience we want to provide for spectators and Games participants. It’s all achievable through making the right choices.” With that said, I have little cute cuddly birds tweeting in my head…
But that’s not what Ray Appel can hear. His apartment is near the BC Place Stadium in the Downtown core of Vancouver and he has heard a roaring sound for the past two weeks, a sound that usually kicks in when one (or all) of three generators at the Stadium turns on. Recently the generators have been roaring through the night on 24 hour cycles. On closer inspection, the diesel gas emitted is thick and smokey and makes it considerably hard to breathe. To add insult to injury, Vanoc is EXEMPT from any city noise by-laws – one of a slew of rules/bylaws that Vanoc is exempt from.
Which begs the question, how are the olympics fair game if Vanoc gets to preach a noble cause but break their own promise on top of disobeying city bylaws? How can we support something that disrespects it’s own community? It’ll be hard to host the games with a smile when we know we’re getting bent over the pin ball machine and dong chimed…. ouch.