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Volume 57 No. 30
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Sentinel
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Northern
www.northernsentinel.com
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
1.34 INCLUDES TAX
$
Christian Cross, left, and Mikkeila Ridsdale took advantage of the beautiful sunny weather Kitimat has enjoyed during much of early July. The pair were trying their luck fishing along the Kitimat River just below the Haisla Bridge. Sean Glanville
Council backs RTA water license bid Sean Glanville Kitimat City Council spoke loud and clear that they would support Rio Tinto Alcan during their latest water licensing dispute with the province of BC. The council have sent a letter to the province expressing their unconditional support for completion of the Kemano back-up tunnel construction. “We’re confident this will work out really soon,” said RTA media spokesperson Colleen Nyce. “We are very appreciative of the stakeholders, the first nations and the municipal government and particularly the District of Kitimat who have given us support for our back-up tunnel project.” RTA was suprised at BC Jobs Minister Pat Bell’s decision to delay the signing of the water license, advising the amendment was only to put the second tunnel into use and not use more water. In reaction, RTA ordered everything to shut down Friday afternoon and sent all of their employees home. This caused a major stir throughout the region over the weekend. Mayor Joanne Monoghan mentioned how she and her staff had spent 13 hours trying to iron out the details on Saturday. “Obviously this has drawn a huge amount of public concern as it came out on
the weekend,” said Kitimat Councilor Phil Germuth. Bell would not sign the amendment until Kitimat, Vanderhoof, and Prince George, the three communities primarily affected by the tunnel, discuss the issue. He mentioned the water license is not required until construction on the new tunnel is completed. However, it is understandable for RTA to not want to invest further into a project they’ve already spent over $100 million on only to find out they can’t get the water license down the road. RTA are currently in a wait and see mode claiming they have done everything asked of them by the Ministry. They were unable to set up a meeting with Prince George until July 20 but to RTA’s understanding Prince George mayor Shari Green has submitted a letter to the Ministry. “Right now we feel we’ve fulfilled all the requests and provided all the information and we’re just basically waiting to hear from the ministry,” explains Nyce. “We’re committed to continue to meet with them and work to resolve the situation.” Vanderhoof along with Kitimat held meetings on July 16 regarding the issue, while Prince George is scheduled to meet next on July 30. Vandherhoof mayor Gerry
Thiessen asked to see the terms of the 1997 Kemano Completion project settlement agreement, which saw former Premier Mike Harcourt nix the project. Thiessen also mentioned how the province, not the municipalities, are stewards over the Nechako, passing the onus back on to Minister Bell. Critics feel the completion of a back up tunnel is simply the Kemano completion project in disguise. They argue RTA will use this tunnel to generate and sell more power by adding four new turbines to the existing eight. However, there are advantages to a second tunnel aside from power. The new tunnel is much smoother than the original which was blasted from rock over 50 years ago. This allows the transfer of water to the back-up tunnel so technicians can fix areas with significant wear, fallen rock and debris. Engineering experts also say that running both tunnels at half capacity and funneling the water-flows together can somehow produce more power than a single tunnel at full capacity. Former Kitimat mayor Richard Wozney described the completion of the second tunnel as a ‘good thing’ but criticized RTA of not being up front with the community.
Wozney called the Kemano back-up tunnel project ‘a poorly kept secret.’ “It’s just more of the same of what this community has gone through in the past. This is just a typical ploy by RTA,” said Wozney. “They don’t tell the people anything and then they want their support.” Wozney refers to previous times RTA has rallied for support including 20 years ago regarding the water flow issues on the Vanderhoof side of the Kenney dam and more recently when RTA wanted to dredge Tahtsa narrows. The concern for Minister Bell and the people of Vanderhoof is that using more water for a second tunnel will cause less waterflows in the Nechako river and could disrupt the regions ecosystem. However, water levels on the Nechako reached a 200 year high in 2008 and the river is prone to ice related flooding in the Prince George region, including this past winter. Germuth discussed a few key questions on the Kemano issue such as power generators and the allocation of water flow for the second tunnel. “Generators for facilities like this aren’t something companies just stock on the shelves, it takes years to actually build these and get them out,” says Germuth. Continued on page 3
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