Opponents of the controversial Glacier/Howser hydroelectric project are ramping up the campaign against the independent power project following the acceptance of the proponent’s application by the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office on June 2.
They are hoping that the public will come out to meetings and also express their opposition to the project in writing during the 45-day public consultation period starting June 15.
West Kootenay EcoSociety spokesperson Lee-Anne Unger says the group is disappointed that a consultation session will not be held in Nelson. “The proponent and EAO’s lack of willingness to host a public meeting in the most central community in the West Kootenay is outrageous,” she said.
Unger says the decision to hold public consultation meetings in Kaslo, Meadow Creek and Invermere ignores calls from organizations representing thousands of residents in the region, including the BC Wildlife Federation, the West Kootenay Naturalists, as well as the mayor of Trail and municipal councils in Nelson and Rossland.
The project was recently resubmitted for environmental assessment. Located on the east side of the Duncan Reservoir, the project consists of two hydroelectric facilities that would divert water from Glacier and Howser Creeks to produce just under 99.5 megawatts of electricity. A 92-kilometre long power line running east to Invermere is also planned as part of the project.
The proponent of the project is Purcell Green Power, which is a subsidiary of Quebec-based AXOR Inc.
Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Norm Macdonald is encouraging residents to take part in the public consultation process. “Since the passage of Bill 30 (the Ashlu River bill) in 2006, local governments no longer have a say in the placement of private river-diversion power projects leaving local residents with only the faulty environmental assessment process to provide input,” he writes.
“I feel that it is wrong that public input is now limited to this single forum, but unfortunately, this all that we have,” he said. “Few that have had experience with the environmental assessment process would say that it is adequate as a method of public consultation.”
Three meetings will be held to provide information and receive comments on the project. The first meeting is at J.V. Humphries School Gymnasium in Kaslo on June 23 from 5:30–9 p.m. The second is on June 24 at the Lardeau Valley Community Hall in Meadow Creek from 5:30–9 p.m. The final meeting is on June 25 from 5:30–9 p.m. at the Invermere Community Hall.
Information on the Glacier/Howser project, including information on how to submit comments, is available on the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office website at www.eao.gov.bc.ca.