The Wilderness Committee declared good news today in the on-going fight to keep BC’s rivers wild and power public. A letter, dated June 3, 2010 from Bute Hydro Inc. to the Chair of the Federal Environmental Assessment Review Panel indicates the company does not see “advancing through the Environmental Review Process at this time.”

“This is very good news indeed,” explained Wilderness Committee Policy Director Gwen Barlee. “Now that this terrible project has been slowed down to a stop, British Columbia needs to take the necessary steps to ensure that it never ever gets going again,” said Barlee.

Bute Hydro Inc, a partnership between Plutonic Power and General Electric had proposed to dam and divert 16 rivers in the Bute Inlet area to produce hydroelectric power. The project is located in the heart of salmon, mountain goat and grizzly bear habitat. Their letter states that although the companies are stepping back for now, they may want to come back at a later date to “reconfigure the project”.

“While we are happy the project has ground to a halt, we are concerned that the company may be delaying the project to give the Federal government time to further weaken Federal Environmental Assessment legislation,” said Joe Foy, Campaign Director with the Wilderness Committee. That’s why we are saying that we need to take advantage of this delay now, to ensure that the Bute Inlet region’s wild salmon rivers are fully protected from the crazy schemes of General Electric and their friends. We are calling on the BC Government to revoke General Electric’s water license application and to declare the rivers of the Bute an official Salmon Sanctuary, forever protected from being dammed, diverted and ruined.”

For more information please contact:

Gwen Barlee, Policy Director, Wilderness Committee, (604) 683-8220
Joe Foy, Campaign Director, Wilderness Committee, (604) 880-2580.
Link to the June 3, 2010 letter from Bute Hydro Inc.