Contractor Kiewit runs help wanted ads in local paper for Kokish River Project before Department of Fisheries and Oceans informs the public

April 24, 2012

VANCOUVER – An advertisement placed by construction company Kiewit in a local Vancouver Island paper indicates the federal government has approved the highly controversial Kokish River power proposal.

Kiewit, the contractor for the Kokish River power proposal started running help wanted ads specifically for the Kokish project in local papers last Friday April 20. The ads by the construction company were placed even though the Department of Fisheries and Oceans had not yet made public their  decision on the proposal.
 
The contentious 45 MW project has been vehemently opposed by a diverse group of wilderness tourism businesses, fishing and outdoor recreation groups including the BC Wildlife Federation, the Steelhead Society of BC and the BC Federation of Fly Fishers due to the high fish values in the Kokish River.

“It is unbelievable that the federal government would inform the contractor before they would inform the public,” said Gwen Barlee, Policy Director with the Wilderness Committee. “I would like to know who is calling the shots here. Is DFO in charge or the company and its friends? DFO has already said the Kokish River is a high value and sensitive fish river, so why on Earth would Ottawa sign off on this extremely unpopular and environmentally damaging project?”  

The Kokish River is located 15 km east of Port McNeill on northern Vancouver Island. Kwagis Power, owned by Brookfield Renewable Power and the Namgis First Nation, has applied to dam and divert the 11 km river into a 9 km pipe.

“We already know there has been considerable non-compliance on operating river diversion projects when it comes to leaving enough water for fish,” said Barlee. “So instead of protecting fish and enforcing the law by protecting the Kokish, Ottawa plays Russian roulette with a river that has five species of wild salmon in it.”

The Kokish is important habitat for five species of wild salmon, coastal cutthroat trout, Dolly Varden, eulachon as well as endangered runs of summer and winter steelhead. The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is on the record stating that the Kokish is a high-value river with a sensitive fish population.

The BC government signed off on the project in December 2011, but approval from DFO is needed before construction starts.

Over 70 per cent of independent power projects in BC are found in water bodies with known or suspected fish populations. Impacts from such projects include severely decreased water flows and problems with plant malfunctions and rapid changes in water levels – all of which negatively impact fish populations. Recent freedom of information documents on the Ashlu and Mamquam power projects showed repeated and ongoing problems at the plants resulting in fish kills.

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For more information please contact:

Gwen Barlee, Policy Director, with the Wilderness Committee, 604-683-8220 (w) or 604-202-0322 (c)

For a list of organizations dedicated to keeping the Kokish wild go to: savethekokish.ca

High quality B-roll of the Kokish River is available