VANCOUVER - The Wilderness Committee is demanding that the joint federal-provincial environmental assessment for the proposed Site C Dam hold hearings throughout British Columbia – not just in the Peace River region.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is accepting public comments until September 16th, regarding the Public Hearing Procedures to be followed in the upcoming hearings on the proposed mega-dam project.

“We are concerned that only hearing venues near the proposed dam site in the Peace River region are being considered. That’s a problem,” said Wilderness Committee Campaign Director Joe Foy. “Hearings should be held throughout the province, from Bella Coola to Cranbrook, from Osoyoos to Fort Nelson and all points in between.”

The Wilderness Committee asserts that the Site C Dam would damage BC’s Agricultural Land Reserve more than any other project has ever done. Over 6,000 hectares of Peace River Valley farmland would be drowned if the dam were to be built.

“The threat to agricultural land is an issue with huge interest in the Peace River Valley for sure – but it has a province-wide impact as well,” said Foy.

The Peace River Valley is within the territory of the Treaty 8 First Nations, who are opposed to the Site C Dam. Flooding over 100 kilometres of valley-bottom lands within their territory is a matter of concern for the entire province.

The BC Utilities Commission (BCUC), whose job it is to review power projects to ensure that they are in the public interest, has twice turned down the Site C Dam project.

“The BC government under Premier Campbell removed the ability of the BCUC to comment on the Site C Dam. Site C is an $8 billion power project with no BCUC oversight – which is a recipe for financial disaster,” said Foy. “BC does not need the power, and we sure can’t afford the debt associated with this useless white elephant – and that’s an issue of province-wide interest as well.”