For immediate release – Monday August 13, 2007

AXOR plans to produce unnecessary, wilderness destroying, dirty energy in heart of endangered mountain caribou country in Kootenays, without an environmental review.

Glacier Creek, BC – 100 kilometres north of Nelson, BC, the Wilderness Committee today launched a major wilderness expedition led by experienced local mountaineers to document areas, within current National and Provincial Park proposals, that will be harmed by a misguided, BC government sponsored attempt to privatize BC rivers and streams for energy production. The Glacier-Howser Independent Power Project (IPP) is proceeding with construction of seismic lines, drilling, and testing this summer, before the proponent even submits the project application. The Wilderness Committee is calling for a moratorium on construction, and an environmental review that includes detailed analysis of cumulative effects of all similar projects in the region.

Supposedly intended to benefit BC consumers, the energy produced at the proposed Glacier-Howser power plant, near Argenta, will be delivered to communities with decreasing populations and/or with little need for new energy sources. Once AXORs short-term power contracts are up, or by using Bill 40, they will be allowed to sell power to the US. The Wilderness Committee fears that this independent power project (IPP), and many of the 600 odd others planned for BC rivers and creeks, are more about privatizing BCs public power system, increasing the cost of electricity to consumers, and exporting power to the US.

The Glacier-Howser site is a proposed 125 megawatt “run of the river” power plant that will make energy by diverting streams into 16 kilometres of tunnels and pipes. Instead of following or linking existing right of ways, the 91.5 km of new 100 metre wide transmission lines will pass through numerous protected forest reserves, old growth forests, 23 kilometres of pristine wilderness, and will be the first bisection of the Purcell Mountains, famed for their mountain caribou, grizzlies and recreation. The BC government is billing Glacier-Howser as “green” and oriented toward energy self sufficiency” but it seems to be more about building up capacity to export energy and gain access to road-less wilderness areas for logging, mining and other development.

Although the BC government reports that these projects are about increasing BCs energy self sufficiency, they seem to be working against self sufficiency by integrating BCs electricity system with the US via the Columbia River grid, and reorganizing other transmission grids to facilitate private energy exports. “The Glacier-Howser project seems like a plan to privatize electricity production and water resources, resulting in increased energy costs to consumers and increasing corporate profits” said Wilderness Committee Staff Scientist Andy Miller.

The Glacier-Howser, project will produce most energy when it is least needed, in the summer, when streams are full of glacial melt. The proponent claims that the project will power 34,000-40,000 BC homes, but the sad fact is that local energy consumers do not need more summer power. The only conceivable time when local BC homes will need more energy than they have now is during the winter, when energy production from the Glacier-Howser project will be least because of low stream flow.

The Glacier-Howser project “Terms Of Reference” state that the purpose of the project is to “sell green electricity to BC Hydro” and “increase energy self sufficiency”. What the proponents do not say is that BC is already energy self sufficient, having been a net exporter of energy for 9 of the last 12 years. Further, for this project to qualify as “green electricity”, according to Environment Canada, it must displace non-renewable fuel, reduce impacts on aquatic, riparian and terrestrial ecosystems, and must have no adverse impacts to any species designated as endangered or threatened. The Glacier-Howser project meets none of these criteria” said Miller “In fact, the new road and transmission lines will enable the BC government to log and mine in remote wilderness areas that otherwise would not have been considered feasible for extractive resource use.”

“The claim that the Glacier-Howser project is “green energy” could not be further from the truth” said Miller, ”This project will produce millions of tons of acid-leaching waste rock from tunneling, will add thousands of tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere because of logging for transmission lines, will route new power lines away from the BC grid and through nearly 100 km of remote wilderness to a community, Inveremere, whose population is decreasing, and will present a migration and movement barrier to endangered grizzly and mountain caribou populations. “The nearly 100 km transmission line seems to have been designed to be as environmentally destructive as it possibly could be” said Miller.

This part of the east Kootenays boasts some of the most popular hiking trails in BC, is located between two of the most endangered herds of mountain caribou, the East Purcell and Central Selkirk herds, is a roadless wilderness area with healthy populations of grizzly, wolverine, mountain goat, and wolf, and is an important raptor migration route.

Officially referred to as “IPPs” or “independent power projects” by the BC government, citizens now refer to them more accurately as “RPPs” or “River Privatization Projects”. The BC government has launched a new gold rush by encouraging private companies to stake claims to over 600 BC rivers and streams without clear government oversite and regulation. Ownership of the stream and rivers affected by these projects will shift from public to private.

“What we are hoping to accomplish by mounting this expedition” said Miller “is to focus attention on what these RPPs really are – a BC government sponsored sell-off of public water bodies for the production of high-priced power for export. What the BC government will get in return is 3-4% of the energy value returned to the province, and access roads plowed into many remote areas to facilitate future logging, mining and other development. Many of these “IPP” projects are in roadless areas, long-standing park proposals, forest reserves, and endangered species habitat. The way these projects are being evaluated by the province shows absolutely no respect for values the people of BC hold dear.”

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For more information contact Andy Miller @ 604-992-3099