You are hereGlacier-Howser power project back on frontburner
Glacier-Howser power project back on frontburner
Nelson Star, August 30, 2010
The proponents of the Glacier-Howser independent power project have resubmitted their application to B.C.’s environmental assessment office, in a move already being slammed by the NDP.
A public review of the 100-megawatt proposal has been on hold since last year when the office asked Axor Corp. to better explain how they would protect fish habitat. A revised submission has now been put forth, but Nelson-Creston MLA Michelle Mungall says the environment minister should nip it in the bud.
“The people of the Kootenays have already spoken about this project – they simply don’t want it because it’s not good for our region,” she said in a release.
She’s calling on the government to “stop the project in its tracks.”
Failing that, she lays out three requests in a letter to project assessment director Kathy Eichenberger: require Axor to hold a public meeting in Nelson, extend the public consultation period by 30 days to the maximum number allowed by law, and provide an independent summary of the proposal in plain language.
“Axor’s previous refusal to hold a meeting in Nelson caused anger and frustration to local people,” Mungall writes. “I responded to the public demand by organizing an informal meeting on the proposed project and its possible impacts. More than 500 concerned citizens attended, demonstrating that a meeting in Nelson is warranted.”
She adds that while the public was provided with 45 days last summer to become familiar with the project and provide feedback, that wasn’t enough time to provide for a meaningful dialogue. “I received an exceptional number of questions from the public about how best to make their voice heard; it was clear that this basic information was not sufficiently forthcoming from the proponent, nor the Province.”
Finally, Mungall asks for “an independent source synthesize the information regarding and contained within the application into an executive summary … which is translated from technical jargon into common language … Not surprisingly, people felt that the 7,000 page document was far too cumbersome to read and comprehend.”
The Glacier Howser hydroelectric project calls for diversion of water from both creeks and running a 90 km transmission line across the Purcell Mountains.
