SQUAMISH
— The head of the Lower Mainland chapter of the B.C. Wildlife Federation says he plans to tell his
organization's 30,000 members to oppose the Pitt River independent power project after not receiving
satisfactory answers to his questions at a public meeting on Tuesday night.
Ed George, president of the BCWF region, which runs from the Sunshine Coast to Hope, was one of 300
people who attended the public meeting in Mission hosted by Jako Krushnisky, the president of Run of River
Power Inc.

Mr. George said grizzly bears, mountain goats and elk would be affected by the proposed eight weirs,
outbuildings and transmission lines that would take the electricity to a substation near Squamish. He added
that the weirs in the tributaries would interrupt gravel flow, harming the local salmon spawn.
He said he would make several presentations to his members at the BCWF annual conference in Salmon Arm
in April about his concerns. He said he could not yet determine what form any BCWF opposition would take.
"I told the proponents at the meeting that I am there for the federation and that I represent 30,000 members,
and as such we are against it," said Mr. George. "The facts do not support the project. We are not against all
IPPs, but when you take a look at it on an individual basis, this is a bad one."
Run of River Power Inc. plans to build the weirs in the Upper Pitt River watershed, about 40 kilometres north
of Port Coquitlam, creating the largest cluster of run-of-river power projects of its type in the province. It also
hopes to change the boundary of Pinecone Burke Provincial Park so it can build lines carrying power to the
substation near Squamish.

"Being that it was in Mission, there was a good turnout, but I felt that [Mr. Krushnisky] and his biologists
didn't have the answers lined up," said Mr. George.

Mr. George asked about land offered by the company in compensation for the 21 hectares that would be
removed from the park.

"They said the park would gain 471 hectares, only the land they are offering is not theirs. It's ours; it's Crown
land. I wanted to know how they had the authority to do that, but they wouldn't tell me," he said.
Dan Gerak, who runs the Pitt River Fishing Lodge, said he wasn't satisfied by the responses he received at
the same meeting to questions about the higher reaches of the tributaries, where, he said, he has caught fish
even though company biologists told him that none were there.

"What was really shocking was they kept beating around the bush and ... these guys have been up there
studying this for a year-and-a-half," he said. "They're looking for their permit to go ahead in five or six
months from now. There is something wrong here."

Gwen Barlee of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee has attended all three open-house meetings
scheduled by Run of River Power, including one at Pitt Meadows last week that was shut down by a fire
marshal after becoming dangerously overcrowded.

Two more meetings are scheduled, although their dates and locations have not yet been announced. Ms.Barlee said she would like one to take place in Vancouver, and expressed disappointment at the absence of
B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner from the meetings.

"The proponents run the entire process. It is supposed to be a public process, about public parks, about public
land," she said. "It is meant to be impartial and unbiased, but [information] is being provided by the same
proponent that wants to put a transmission line through a provincial park."
Mr. Krushnisky did not respond to an interview request yesterday.

Mr. Penner said in an e-mail yesterday that the province had been represented at the meetings by B.C. Parks
staff and representatives from the Environmental Assessment Office:
"There is still more work to be done by professional ministry staff [regarding the Pitt River power project]. ...
The purpose of the public meetings is to provide more information about the proposal and to allow ministry
staff and the project proponent to answer questions about technical and process issues.

"I don't intend to politically interfere in [the public-meeting] process and will instead allow ministry staff to
prepare an unbiased report. I appreciate the public input on this matter."

Special to The Globe and Mail

STATED PROVINCIAL INCOME FROM THE PROJECT
Annual provincial taxes: $14.8-million
Annual provincial water licence and land tenure fees: $5.3 M
Annual federal tax revenues: $12 M
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