West Moberly says Site C would power tar sands not homes
Monday, 30 August 2010
Amid a bevy of resource projects in northeast B.C., the West Moberly First Nation claims the province is green-washing its Site C hydroelectric project.
“It’s not clean and it’s not green,” West Moberly Chief Roland Willson told BIV in a recent interview.
The First Nation community is a member of the Treaty 8 Tribal Association near Fort St. John where dozens of companies are snapping up land to build the next shale gas well, coal mine or renewable power project.
In April, the provincial government announced plans to move ahead with its proposed Site C clean energy project, a dam on the Peace River that could cost $6.6 billion to build but provide enough power for 410,000 homes per year.
Willson said the dam will not only flood prime agricultural land along the Peace, but much of the power will be used to extract shale gas from B.C.’s Horn River basin.
That gas will then be shipped to Alberta to produce oil from the tar sands, Willson said.
“They’re claiming this is a green project, but it’s not green it’s going to … the largest greenhouse gas producer in North America right now under the guise of being green and clean.”
The provincial government could not be reached for comment.
In the past, Victoria has said Site C will have among the lowest greenhouse gas emissions per gigawatt-hour when compared with other forms of electricity generation, and will help the province meet a growing need for power.
Check out this week’s edition of BIV for more about the resource boom and First Nations in northeast B.C.
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