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The debate about independent power projects (IPPs) rages on in some circles, leading a small but impassioned crowd to gather in Pemberton’s new community centre on Saturday (Oct. 18) to talk rivers, power and politics.
Representatives from the Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) and the B.C. Creek Protection Society raised concerns about the environmental impact and the scope of privately owned run-of-river projects.
Gwen Barlee, policy director for the WCWC, questioned the operations and impact of the 33-megawatt Miller Creek hydroelectric station.
Following a “dewatering” incident last fall, where a malfunction temporarily cut off water from flowing into the creek, Barlee filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request about the project with the provincial Ministry of Environment. After receiving the results last week, Barlee said the documents show scientists reviewing the project for the ministry had voiced concerns during its early stages.
“They were concerned about the impact on fish values, about the impact on endangered species, they were concerned about fluctuating water flows, they were concerned about turbines not working properly — and what I find really interesting is that these concerns raised by the government’s own biologists in these documents, most of them, if not all of them, came to pass in the operation of the Miller Creek private power plant,” Barlee told The Question.
Epcor Power Development, which operates the facility, was taken to task earlier this year by a biological consulting report that cast shadows on the company’s environmental management of endangered species such as Harlequin ducks, efforts to revegetate some slopes, failure to clean up a fuel spill properly and alleged fish kills from the dewatering.
Epcor spokesperson Jay Shukin, responding to Barlee’s FOI-based claim, said the company is committed to meeting all environmental standards.
“For example, we have recently commenced work on a new phase of environmental monitoring at Miller Creek. Developed with the Ministry of Environment, this program includes monitoring for Harlequin ducks,” Shukin wrote in an email. “I should add that the environmental monitoring team spotted several Harlequin ducks during a spring visit to the creek.”
Epcor has also reviewed and altered its operating practices, plant design and environmental protection systems, and the changes have been shared with the Ministry, Shukin wrote.
But Barlee said she’s concerned that ministry scientists were concerned about the Miller Creek project’s impacts, and that the problems at Miller Creek could happen elsewhere.
She said river hydro projects should be regionally planned, environmentally appropriate, acceptable to First Nations governments and locally owned.
Rivers in the province, and the corridor in particular, could soon be awash in hydroelectric projects, with applications filed for licences on more than 100 rivers in this region alone, David Collings of the B.C. Creek Protection Society said on Saturday.
But Nigel Protter, a local renewable energy specialist who has consulted for groups developing IPPs such as the proposed 125-megawatt Ryan River project, said the green power projects need to be built to combat the pressing questions of climate and environmental change and energy security in sustainable ways.
Protter attended Saturday’s event alongside about 12 others, including Pemberton resident and anti-Ryan River IPP activist Hamish Nichol. But Protter left during a presentation, after questioning how many undecided Pemberton residents were at the event.
“It bothers me when they mix the political agenda with the pragmatic agenda, with their legitimate questions about sustainable development,” Protter said.
Even before the event had begun, the B.C. Citizens for Green Energy issued a press release saying the WCWC brings a political agenda instead of environmental concerns, as it cooperates with the COPE 378 union.
Barlee said her group is purely concerned with showing the environmental impact of the projects through documents and photos.
“We do have people from Pemberton, from Whistler, from Squamish, from the whole Sea to Sky corridor that are picking up the phone once they find out about these projects and saying, ‘I’m concerned, there’s something wrong about this, why haven’t we been consulted, why don’t we have a say in the process,’” Barlee said.
