Environmental assessment legislation changes apply to Site C

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Energetic City

There's First Nation's confirmation that recently announced changes to Federal Environmental Assessment rules, which appear to be directed at the proposed Northern Gateway Project, would also apply to the proposed Peace River Site C Dam power project. The proposed changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the Fisheries Act are scheduled to come into force this summer.

Fort St. John/Treaty 8 Territory communities of Halfway River, Doig River, West Moberly, and Prophet River First Nations are reviewing the dam project implications of these changes for consultation, Treaty rights and environmental assessment.

The First Nations claim that at just over three years the environmental assessment for Site C is already the shortest of any large-scale hydro project in Canada in the past decade. However, since one of the substantial changes is introduction of fixed timelines for environmental assessments it now appears, the Site C assessment could be further shortened to just 2 years, at the discretion of the federal Minister.

Treaty-8 Tribal Chief, Liz Logan, says, "The implications of these kinds of changes are not always clear to the general public, and what happens is, there's insufficient time to actually address, genuine, public and First Nations concerns." She also claims, "Project proponents, like B.C. Hydro, know this, and have a huge incentive to present incomplete information."

Photo: Halfway River and West Moberly First Nations youth at a Site C open house in Dawson Creek