You are hereBC government hit with lawsuit after rejecting independent power project
BC government hit with lawsuit after rejecting independent power project
By SCOTT SIMPSON, Vancouver Sun, May 28, 2010
VANCOUVER — Proponents of a stalled $2.5 billion independent power project on the central British Columbia coast are suing the province in hopes of getting their 600 megawatt hydro development back on track.
Environment Minister Barry Penner has stated in the legislature that the government will not consider moving park and other protected area boundaries to accommodate electricity projects. (Photograph by: Mark van Manen, Vancouver Sun files) |
The Da'Naxda'xw First Nation-Kleana Power Corp. run of river project on the Klinaklini River was dropped last month by BC Hydro after the provincial government refused to exempt it from a power development ban in a nature conservancy in the Great Bear Rainforest.
Da'Naxda'xw First Nation and Kleana Power Corporation allege in a writ of summons filed this week in B.C. Supreme Court that the government failed to honor a 2007 commitment to exclude the project area from the bounds of the Upper Klinaklini conservancy, prior to the settling of the conservancy's boundaries.
When the conservancy was announced in 2008, the project area was included within its boundaries — contrary to the expectations of the Da'Naxda'xw and Kleana.
The project includes a 10-metre-high weir that would cause water to back up about 5.5 kilometres into the conservancy.
Environment Minister Barry Penner has stated in the legislature that the government will not consider moving park and other protected area boundaries to accommodate electricity projects.
The plaintiffs are seeking a court declaration that would overturn the boundaries of the Upper Klinaklini conservancy, and order the B.C. environment minister to recommend to cabinet an amendment to the conservancy boundary in order to exclude the land and stream bed required to sustain the power project.
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