River diversion tunnels opened at Site C damn project

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – One of the rock-filled berms at Site C is almost complete as Hydro opens river diversion tunnels.

B.C. Hydro has confirmed the gates to the river diversion tunnels were opened this week on the river’s north bank.

Photos on social media show that the upstream rock-filled berm that will help to divert the river is almost complete as of Saturday.

In a press release Saturday Hydro said, “Over the past few months, crews have been placing a rockfill berm across the river to seal off an area for the dam to be built on dry land while keeping the water flowing through the tunnels on the north bank.”

The upstream and downstream cofferdams that will allow Hydro to build the dam on dry land will be built over the next few months.

Hydro says river levels will fluctuate without warning during this stage of construction.

A letter was sent to Premier Horgan this week requesting an independent team of experts analyze the site to see if the serious geotechnical problems that have been noted can be solved and at what cost.

The letter was signed by signatories from across the province, including a former head of B.C. Hydro, prominent First Nation leaders, scientists, environmentalists, and more have been included in the letter. They all say that diverting the Peace River to make way for further construction at Site C could be a costly and potentially disastrous mistake.

The Premier had voiced concerns in late July when he learned that Hydro had known for months about a serious “project risk” geotechnical problem surfaced at Site C. The dam remains years and billions of dollars away from being completed.