A reckless spree of mine developments is threatening the pristine wilderness of northwest British Columbia.

These environmentally destructive mines will require substantial amounts of electricity, and that's just one reason we are so concerned by new private power projects planned for the region.

It is important to note that many of the mining companies are hoping to access subsidized electricity from BC Hydro. BC Hydro is paying $125 MWh for new power and the mining companies want the power for the industrial rate of $40 MWh!

McLymont Creek is a wild river located about 80 kilometers north of Stewart.

It is just one of over 800 wild rivers and lakes that have been targeted by private power developers since the BC government brought in their disastrous Energy Plan in 2001.

AltaGas is the company that seeks to dam and divert this river into a 3km long 4m wide tunnel, to produce hydro power that BC Hydro would then be forced to buy at rates far more than the power is worth. While AltaGas likes to talk up their commitment to renewable energy, their balance sheet shows that the vast majority of their profits come from selling, servicing and transporting fossil fuels and that the majority of the electricity they generate comes from burning coal!

But before this project can go ahead it will require a massive subsidy from taxpayers in the form of a 344 km transmission line to connect to southern BC, costing $130 million of taxpayers' money from the Government of Canada, plus $94 million from the BC Government. The transmission line would be used to buy electricity at a very high cost from private power projects and then to sell electricity at a very low cost to the Mount Klappan coal mine and another half dozen gold and copper mines proposed for the area.

Residential rates would rise all over the province in order to pay for this gift to big business, which would result in the ruin of a number of northwest rivers, including the McLymont.

This proposed hydro project has now entered the second phase of public comment in the BC Environmental Assessment process. It's important that they hear loud and clear that British Columbians do not want to subsidize reckless mining development

Past experience has proven that when a lot of people have called for a project to be scrapped - such as the huge opposition to the proposed Upper Pitt River project and to the Glacier and Howser Creeks project - it can result in the project being derailed and the river being saved. That was the case both with Pitt and Glacier/Howser.

In the fight to keep our rivers wild, people power can make a difference. So let's work together to save McLymont Creek! Please send in your comments to tell the BC Environmental Assessment project how badly you want this project scrapped. The deadline for comments is January 3, 2012. This is one easy good deed you can do during this holiday season.

Here's the low down on this proposed project:

• The proposed McLymont Creek project would require the boring of a 3km long tunnel with a 4m diameter. Such an excavation would risk acid rock drainage.
• A 16 km long road would need to be constructed.
• A 10 km long power line swath would need to be cleared to hook up to the 344km main transmission line which would also need to be built.
• The McLymont project would impact many species of wildlife including:
  • Mountain goat
  • Moose
  • Wolverine
  • American marten
  • Grizzly bear
  • Western toad
  • Breeding birds, including raptors
     

Please write your letter. We promise to keep you up to date as we fight to keep BC rivers wild and power public. Thanks for the helping hand!

Joe Foy | National Campaign Director
Wilderness Committee