Site C Focus Of Session
By 250 News
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 03:59 AM
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Prince George, B.C. – The Site C Dam project proposed for the Peace River, upstream from Taylor, was the subject of a stake holders session in Prince George yesterday. About two dozen interested parties attended, and asked BC Hydro and project experts questions about the proposed project.
The proposed Site C dam is now in the second phase of consultation and a report is expected to be handed to the provincial government in the fall or winter of next year.
That is when the Province will have to make a decision about moving into the stages that would lead to construction of the $5 to $6.6 billion dollar project.
The stakeholders attending the session included recreational river users, First Nations, construction workers, engineers, and area residents who stated they just had an interest in the project.
While B.C. Hydro says the power produced by Site C would be the second cheapest (next to geothermal) there is a mix of impacts by Site C.
Those impacts include:.jpg)
Impacts on residents, forestry, agriculture, wild life, the aquatic life, may have climatic changes for the area and there would be some green house gas emissions related to construction and initial reservoir years.
The climatic changes would include a potential warming trend as water temperatures would be impacted, and that could result in fogging through the area during the fall. That could also have an impact on crop drying.
Efforts to reduce the potential for the development of methylmercury (from degrading biomass underwater) include logging the timber in the reservoir area, and removing all debris. It is estimated there is about 1.5 million cubic meters of merchantable timber, and a further 1.5 million cubic metres of debris that would have to be dealt with.
( at right, historical conceptual drawing of Site C dam, courtesy BC Hydro)
On the positive side, the dam construction could provide hundreds of jobs, there could be infrastructure benefits in the way of bridges and roads, recreational opportunities and dependable, clean energy.
Although Alberta’s Premier Ed Stelmach recently commented that he wasn’t necessarily in support of a dam that would impact water flows to Alberta communities, B.C. Hydro’s Dave Conway commented there are talks underway between the province of B.C., Alberta and the North West Territories about water rights, as well as discussions with First Nations, “We have identified 28 First Nations from McLeod Lake to the Mackenzie River who are also being consulted about the use of water issue.”
The roads needed to access the site to build a dam would require a bridge and there has been some suggestion those roads should be left in place as a legacy for the region. Questions about types of infrastructure that could be developed as benefits to the impacted communities can be accessed on a feedback form available on the web
An open house on Site C is set for November 3rd in Prince George. It will take Place at the Ramada Hotel from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 pm
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Posted by: kevin1006 on October 22 2008 11:07 AM
Not!
I do agree that as much as we may dislike the entire project,(and I do) we need to get this done.
And when the Olympics are done and gone,government will be looking around for another mega-project and this will probably be it.
The real test will be in how it is set up and who will be the big benefactors of that power when all is said and done.
Somehow, it seems with Campbell and his love of big corporations involved,the people of B.C. will come out on the stinky end of the stick once again.
I think we need to pay very close attention to that.