B.C. Environment Minister Murray Coell and Forests, Mines and Lands Minister Pat Bell have granted BC Hydro an environmental assessment certificate for its proposed Northwest Transmission Line project.
The certificate clears the way the $404 million project for a 287-kilovolt transmission line, located 344 kilometres from the Skeena substation south of Terrace to a new substation near Bob Quinn Lake. The project includes new access roads, an upgrade to the Skeena substation, and the construction of the new Bob Quinn substation.
“The project is really going to provide a substantial amount of economic benefit to the northwest portion of B.C.,” said Bruce Barrett, vice-president of major project delivery in BC Hydro’s Transmission and Distribution Business Group. “There’s so much economic opportunity there in terms of green energy production, resource development. I know in our public consultation with the groups up there that it’s seen as a real boon to the region.”
The certificate requires 71 commitments for BC Hydro to implement throughout the course of its project. These include developing and implementing a fish habitat compensation plan and a wetland compensation plan, implementing an environmental monitoring program, and giving First Nations and the Nisga’a Nation an opportunity to provide cultural information for areas to be excavated.
According the Ministry of Environment, the project will generate nearly $100 million in local and provincial taxes and will create an average of 860 person-years of full-time jobs during its three-year construction phase.