VANCOUVER — A group of B.C. landowners has taken legal action to quash the federal government’s approval of the multibillion-dollar Site C dam.

 

The Peace Valley Landowners Association has, as promised, filed an application in Federal Court for judicial review, seeking to overturn the environmental certificate issued in Ottawa.

 

The application comes a week after the group launched a similar court challenge to the B.C. government’s approval of the $7.9-billion dam on the Peace River.

 

The association says landowners, taxpayers and ratepayers cannot be expected to live with the adverse environmental impacts of the dam that would flood 5,550 hectares of land over an 83-kilometre stretch.

 

The Site C dam received provincial and federal approval last month, and the Peace Valley Landowners Association wants to see both environmental certificates declared invalid.

 

Energy Minister Bill Bennett has said the government will announce its decision by the end of the year, and that it will be based on what is the best way to acquire new electricity from a ratepayer’s perspective.