BC Hydro cleared a major hurdle July 7 after the provincial government issued permits for it to begin initial work on the Site C dam.
The work will involve timber removal, road building and other work for site preparation.
“BC Hydro has just received the initial permits required to start some activities on Site C construction,” said Craig Fitzsimmons, a BC Hydro spokesman. “We are finalizing our planning and site preparation activities could begin in late July. The specific start date will be confirmed soon and communities and First Nations will be notified prior to starting any work.”
Greig Bethel, a Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource spokesperson, said 24 permits were issued, but a number of other permits are being reviewed.
“Six applications under the Mines and Heritage Conservation Act are pending decisions,” he wrote in an email to Alaska Highway News. “Ten applications under various statutes have been deferred as a procedural accommodation to allow more time for First Nations consultation. The majority of the deferred applications allow for further consultation with First Nations until mid-September.”
Consultation with First Nations was a requirement for issuing the permits.
“The province has made substantial efforts to engage and consult with Treaty 8 First Nations,” Bethel said. “The [province] is satisfied that the consultation process was adequate and upholds the honour of the Crown and duty to consult.”
In May, the Globe and Mail reported that Treaty 8 members hadn’t agreed to a framework for consultation for some Site C permits.
It’s a work in progress, according to Bethel.
“The province will continue to consult on applications and will also continue to attempt to negotiate a custom consultation process agreement to guide how consultations on future applications will be conducted,” he said.
Last week one First Nation dropped out of a lawsuit seeking to stop the dam from being built.
A provincial judge allowed McLeod Lake Indian Band to “cease to be a party” to a lawsuit involving itself, Prophet River First Nation and West Moberly First Nations. One week earlier, a federal judge granted McLeod Lake's departure from a similar Site C lawsuit that also involves Prophet River, West Moberly and Doig River First Nations.
The dam still faces numerous legal hurdles.
On July 2, a B.C. Supreme Court judge dismissed a case by the Peace Valley Landowner Association (PVLA) aimed at blocking the Site C dam.
It was the first decision involving seven cases against the $8.8 billion hydroelectric project.
In the decision, Justice Robert J. Sewell sided with the B.C. government, advising the court that he could see no reason to conclude that the director had erred in his advice to the minister.
“The decision to grant the certificate was clearly within the range of reasonable options in light of the facts and the law,” Sewell wrote.
“It is not for this court to substitute its views of what the ministers ought to have decided or the weight they were required to give to the many factors they had to consider in arriving at their
decision.”
— With files from Jonny Wakefield
