VANCOUVER – Four First Nation bands from northeastern B.C. have launched a Federal Court case over Ottawa’s approval of the massive Site C hydroelectric dam.

 

The proposed $7.9-billion dam on the Peace River received environmental certificates from the provincial and federal governments last month.

 

The Doig River, Prophet River, West Moberly and McLeod Lake bands, which are members of the Treaty 8 Tribal Association, have filed an application for judicial review in Federal Court seeking to quash the federal approval.

 

The application says the government did not adequately consider the adverse impact the project would have on Treaty 8 nations.

 

The bands say Site C cannot be justified in light of those adverse effects, which the bands say would destroy important fishing habitat, as well as areas with spiritual importance, in the Peace River Valley.

 

A group of landowners has also filed applications for judicial review in Federal Court and in B.C. Supreme Court.