PVEA hopes court challenges will block Site C

“I know Christie has a lot of ideas about what a great investment this is, but the fact of the matter is, it’s not a great investment and there are far better alternatives that are more cost-effective and environmentally friendly,”  coordinator of the association, Andrea Morison said.

Morison says the other energy alternatives available, such as geothermal, can not only be built on comparable or even lower costs, but also “can be built on an as-need-basis.”

“The Joint Review Panel stated that they weren’t satisfied with the energy demand forecast presented by B.C. Hydro, and they stated that it needed to be re-visited by the British Columbia Utilities Commission,” Morison reiterated. “But of course, the government decided not to have BCUC take a look at the project at all.”

Morison adds, “Alternative power has decreased in price significantly in just the last handful of years, and it’s anticipated it will continue to decrease.”

Morison also says she’s not convinced that First Nation Chiefs are on-board with construction; even with promises from the province ensuring Aboriginal communities affected would be first in line for job opportunities.

“They’re going to lose a lot of specific cultural sites,” Morison explains. “…There’s already been a lot of impact on the natural areas that they depend on to carry out their traditional treaty rights, and this is a huge track of land that severely impacts their ability to carry out those treaty rights.”

However, Morison says she’s not overly concerned that today’s announcement ultimately means the dam will be constructed – that is if the challenges in court hold their own weight.

“There are five court cases against this project – there’s a sixth one [that] will be launched shortly and the court cases are very, very strong and will likely set precedence for future environmental assessments.”

The first case goes before a judge on April 20, according to Morison.

The construction of the Site C dam on the Peace River is slated for the summer of 2015.