Environment minister pulls plug on hydro plan for Upper Pitt

Run of River's Power Inc.'s plans for producing hydro power in the Upper Pitt River valley just got a lot more expensive, if they proceed at all.

Environment Minister Barry Penner said Wednesday he won't allow any boundary changes to Pinecone Burke Provincial Park.

His decision came hours after another open house in Pitt Meadows, where more than a thousand people showed up to speak against Run of River's plans to put small dams on seven pristine streams that flow into the Upper Pitt River.

The proposal hinged on a 4.6-kilometre powerline through the provincial park, the cheapest and easiest way for Run of River Power to hook into the BC Hydro grid in Squamish. To do that would have meant changing the park boundaries.

After Tuesday's open house, Penner had heard enough.

"At this point, I felt I got enough information to make my decision," he said.

Penner had hinted as much in previous weeks, saying that the project was facing serious obstacles.

People still had until April 2 to put in their comments, but Penner doubts he would have heard anything different. He said he had few e-mails from people supporting the project.

"There are people who feel passionate about B.C. parks, and so do I. I used to work for B.C. Parks."

According to a 2004 policy, when considering a proposal to change a park boundary, B.C. Parks must undertake public consultation, consider local government opinion, environmental and social costs and First Nations views, and if there's an alternative route. There is for Run of River Power's proposal, south, beneath Pitt Lake.

The Squamish First Nation opposed the powerline going through its territory, near Pinecone Burke park.

Penner concluded the proposal did not meet the strict environmental criteria, nor did it have sufficient support from the public, some First Nations, and local government.

He had consulted with his staff on most aspects and just needed to hear about the public consultation.

Environmentalists applauded the announcement.

"It is a big victory and we'd like to say congratulations to Minister Penner for putting our park and wild salmon ahead of a private power company," said Gwen Barlee, with the Western Canada Wilderness Committee.

"It restores my faith in the value of people speaking out and making their voices heard."

She wouldn't say the project's completely dead, "maybe not 100 per cent mortality," but "it's got one foot in the grave."

Barlee based her opinion on Run of River Power statements at the open house that a southern powerline route, beneath Pitt Lake, would be too expensive.

Elaine Golds, with Burke Mountain Naturalists, still had concerns. "We're very pleased for the park issue. I think it's a wise decision," not to dismantle parks.

"I'm not convinced we've seen the end of this project. Our wild salmon could still be at risk up there."

The Upper Pitt and its tributaries are "last stronghold of wild salmon in the lower Fraser Valley," she said. Putting power houses on all seven of those tributaries would have been too heavy an environmental load.

"We may now see them [Run of River Power] coming back, saying, well it [the southern route] was viable after all."

If that happened, the same groups who opposed the norther powerline route would oppose the southern route, said Geoff Clayton, with the Alouette River Management Society in Maple Ridge.

A powerline running south could also touch Pinecone Burke park and the Pitt Addington reserve, he said.

However, Run of River said in its initial application that it choose the northern powerline route because it was the least environmentally harmful.

Clayton said the park boundary issue was a convenient way for the government to deal with the Run of River proposal.

"It was growing at the rate that it could have been a provincewide issue."

Calls to Run of River Power Wednesday were not returned.

The Western Canada Wilderness Committee is calling for a moratorium on independent power projects. It wants any further projects to be planned on a regional basis, environmentally appropriate and publicly owned.

It's also concerned about power being exported out of B.C. once agreements with BC Hydro expire.

Peter Robinson, CEO of the David Suzuki Foundation, called it "disappointing" to see renewable hydro power pitted against biodiversity.

"To see those two values in conflict is the worst possible outcome I could imagine," he said Wednesday during a Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

A better job needs to be done of mapping out the biodiversity of an area, he said, before an independent power proposal comes, so such "conflict" can be avoided.