Liberals commit to building Site C dam
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 and is filed under BC Hydro, Green Energy.
Review will determine impacts of project expected to exceed $6 billion
Premier Gordon Campbell put an indelible stamp on his time as leader of British Columbia on Monday, announcing his government is instructing BC Hydro to move forward with the Site C dam project on the Peace River.
The cost of the project is uncertain, although it seems likely to exceed $6 billion, and the Liberals are promising to enact new legislation that would make a 900-megawatt Site C development the last, large-scale hydroelectric storage dam ever built in British Columbia.
The project is expected to generate 35,000 direct and indirect jobs, and to come into service in 2020 — provided it passes independent environmental assessments by provincial and federal agencies, as well as gaining enough support from first nations to avert the risk of a protracted court challenge.
At a celebratory announcement staged at the historic W.A.C. Bennett Dam near Hudson’s Hope in northeast B.C., upstream of the proposed location for Site C, Campbell said the dam will be developed as a public project creating lasting benefits for northern communities and first nations.
By Scott Simpson, Vancouver Sun
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