ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Anger grows over proposed river project
New hydroelectric project to provide power for more than 55,000 homes
CATHRYN ATKINSON
Special to The Globe and Mail
March 6, 2008
SQUAMISH -- The head of the Lower Mainland chapter of the B.C. Wildlife Federation says he plans to tell his organization's 30,000 members to oppose the Pitt River independent power project after not receiving satisfactory answers to his questions at a public meeting on Tuesday night.
Ed George, president of the BCWF region, which runs from the Sunshine Coast to Hope, was one of 300 people who attended the public meeting in Mission hosted by Jako Krushnisky, the president of Run of River Power Inc.
Mr. George said grizzly bears, mountain goats and elk would be affected by the proposed eight weirs, outbuildings and transmission lines that would take the electricity to a substation near Squamish. He added that the weirs in the tributaries would interrupt gravel flow, harming the local salmon spawn.
He said he would make several presentations to his members at the BCWF annual conference in Salmon Arm in April about his concerns. He said he could not yet determine what form any BCWF opposition would take.
I told the proponents at the meeting that I am there for the federation and that I represent 30,000 members, and as such we are against it," said Mr. George. "The facts do not support the project. We are not against all IPPs, but when you take a look at it on an individual basis, this is a bad one."
Run of River Power Inc. plans to build the weirs in the Upper Pitt River watershed, about 40 kilometres north of Port Coquitlam, creating the largest cluster of run-of-river power projects of its type in the province. It also hopes to change the boundary of Pinecone Burke Provincial Park so it can build lines carrying power to the substation near Squamish.
"Being that it was in Mission, there was a good turnout, but I felt that [Mr. Krushnisky] and his biologists didn't have the answers lined up," said Mr. George.
Mr. George asked about land offered by the company in compensation for the 21 hectares that would be removed from the park.
"They said the park would gain 471 hectares, only the land they are offering is not theirs. It's ours; it's Crown land. I wanted to know how they had the authority to do that, but they wouldn't tell me," he said.
Dan Gerak, who runs the Pitt River Fishing Lodge, said he wasn't satisfied by the responses he received at the same meeting to questions about the higher reaches of the tributaries, where, he said, he has caught fish even though company biologists told him that none were there.
"What was really shocking was they kept beating around the bush and ... these guys have been up there studying this for a year-and-a-half," he said. "They're looking for their permit to go ahead in five or six months from now. There is something wrong here."
Gwen Barlee of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee has attended all three open-house meetings scheduled by Run of River Power, including one at Pitt Meadows last week that was shut down by a fire marshal after becoming dangerously overcrowded.
Two more meetings are scheduled, although their dates and locations have not yet been announced. Ms. Barlee said she would like one to take place in Vancouver, and expressed disappointment at the absence of B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner from the meetings.
"The proponents run the entire process. It is supposed to be a public process, about public parks, about public land," she said. "It is meant to be impartial and unbiased, but [information] is being provided by the same proponent that wants to put a transmission line through a provincial park."
Mr. Krushnisky did not respond to an interview request yesterday.
Mr. Penner said in an e-mail yesterday that the province had been represented at the meetings by B.C. Parks staff and representatives from the Environmental Assessment Office:
"There is still more work to be done by professional ministry staff [regarding the Pitt River power project]. ... The purpose of the public meetings is to provide more information about the proposal and to allow ministry staff and the project proponent to answer questions about technical and process issues.
"I don't intend to politically interfere in [the public-meeting] process and will instead allow ministry staff to prepare an unbiased report. I appreciate the public input on this matter."
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STATED PROVINCIAL INCOME FROM THE PROJECT
Annual provincial taxes: $14.8-million
Annual provincial water licence and land tenure fees: $5.3 M
Annual federal tax revenues: $12 M
Author
Topic: Upper Pitt: Private Power Projects - Rally (Important) (Read 2075 times)