Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:30:01 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [KCUTS] Private power projects: Coming to a river near you
From: "Moe" <meadow@netidea.com>
Please send this on to everyone you know.
thanks
moe
Private power projects: Coming to a river near you
Do you know what's going on in your own back yard -- or our own back
country? On Tuesday, March 11, come to Slocan Park Hall to learn more
about the privatization and industrialization of BC's creeks and rivers.
Entitled: “Private Power Projects: Coming to a river near you”, the
evening features an array of interesting speakers, fascinating exhibits,
and beautiful slides of Crown land about to be destroyed for private
profit. The evening winds up with an opportunity to ask questions and find
out what you can do. Doors open at 6:30, the event starts at 7pm.
The Friends of Koch Creek are inviting the public to listen to Gary Diers,
Corky Evans, Marilyn James, Michelle Mungall and Moe Lyons discuss these
issues. They will be joined by a panel of other resource persons to answer
questions. The evening will be facilitated by Lee-Ann Unger from the West
Kootenay Eco-Society.
Under the BC government's current energy plan, BC Hydro is no longer
allowed to build power plants. Public ownership of power plants has meant
cheap and plentiful electrical power for the citizens of British Columbia.
Now all power must be purchased from private power developers, at above
market cost. Sites on over 500 creeks and rivers in BC, and over 40 in the
West Kootenays alone, have been snapped up by private power developers for
a few thousand dollars each. Each site that is turned into a power
generating facility will return huge profits to these developers.
These developments are alarming to anyone who loves the back country. Ron
Milton, founder of the Slocan Valley Wildlife Association and past
Director of the BC Wildlife Federation, is passionate about this issue. "I
have spent thousands of hours enjoying, recreating and studying in these
watersheds," he says. "For individuals such as us Kootenay residents these
waterways will be and are the lifeblood of every living creature including
ourselves."
While the developers initially have to sign contracts to sell the power to
BC Hydro, in twenty years or so when those contracts run out, they can
sell the power to the highest bidder, anywhere on the grid. They will
build these projects with public money, and in the end will own them
outright. Public money will have paid for them, but the public will have
nothing, least of all security of power supply, which is one rationale for
the whole process.
Another rationale is that these projects are described as “green power”.
However, the cumulative impacts of destroying over 500 riparian ecosystems
has never been explored. These power generating projects are not
attractive little water wheels sitting in the river. They are major water
diversion projects involving blasting and tunnelling and removal of the
water from the creek beds. And while technically the sites will still
belong to the people of BC, at the Ashlu project near Squamish, people
wishing to view the site were escorted away by security guards.
Gary Diers, an Argenta-based organic farmer and member of the Purcell
Wilderness Alliance, has become well-known in recent years for his
impassioned defence of the Glacier/Howser watersheds. A soft-spoken man
who would really just as soon stay home and farm, he has put together a
spectacular slide show, along with a detailed description of the proposed
project there. Glacier/Howser is the largest project currently slated for
the Kootenays, and has received international attention, in large measure
because of Gary's efforts. Gary coined the phrase that has become the
watchword for those opposed to these private power projects: “Ruin of the
river.”
Corky Evans, MLA for Nelson/Creston, has declared that the fight against
the privatization of BC's watercourses is one of his main priorities
between now and the next provincial election. “We own these rivers,” he
says. “Government has no right to give our birthright away for private
profit.”
Marilyn James and other First Nations representatives have expressed grave
concerns about these projects. Marilyn has strong feelings about the
sacredness of our wilderness and has spoken out against the degradation of
our waterways on a number of occasions. "This is something I really want
to talk about," she says. As well, the BC Union of Indian Chiefs has taken
a position that there should be a moratorium on run-of-the-river projects.
Michelle Mungall is a former Nelson city councillor who currently works in
community economic development. She is concerned about the social and
economic impacts of these power policies. As a former member of municipal
government (she was recently Nelson's youngest-ever city councillor), she
will also talk about Bill 30, by which the provincial government removed
all power from municipalities and regional districts to have any say over
what happens with these private power projects. This bill is popularly
referred to as the “Ashlu Bill”, as it was quickly passed when Squamish,
Whistler, Pemberton and the surrounding regional districts were all
opposed to a large and destructive private power project on the Ashlu
River.
Moe Lyons, local community activist, will be speaking on behalf of the
Friends of Koch Creek, the sponsors of this forum. The Friends are an ad
hoc group which formed when they realized Dandelion Power was planning to
totally disrupt the ecosystem at Koch Creek Canyon, taking the water out
of the creek and redirecting it through a penstock (large underground
pipe.)
Several other resource persons will join the main speakers for a question
and answer session to wrap up the evening.
The last word goes to Ron Milton: "I am dead against these development
proposals, and think all residents of the Kootenays should stand up and
defend these precious streams. We have sold off enough of our waterways
and paid a high price for doing so!"
--
Food is the rare moral arena in which the choice that's best for the world
and best for your community is also the best on your table.
- Barbara Kingsolver
--