They’re Killing the Peace River Valley Now
The $9 billion flaying, then drowning of a fertile zone has begun. We still don’t know why.
Photos by Garth Lenz.
Last month the B.C government commenced the destruction of the fertile Peace River Valley, awarding a civil works contract worth $1.5 billion as construction crews methodically denuded the landscape of trees.
Taxpayers will be on the hook for at least $7.5 billion more by the time the devastation is done. The question looming larger than ever is whether the Peace River Valley must be sacrificed at all.
A range of rising voices insist that every argument made by the government for rushing to build a new mega-dam on the Peace River fails to hold water.
The government-dubbed “Site C Clean Energy Project” will flood scores of kilometers of valley river bottom (much of it valuable Class 1 agricultural land) and eventually generate enough power, says the province, to light up the equivalent of 450,000 homes.
According to one press release, the dam “will provide British Columbia with the most affordable, reliable clean power for over 100 years.” Jessica McDonald, president and CEO of BC Hydro, explained that “Site C is essential to keeping the lights on while maintaining low rates for our customers.”
Bill Bennett, Minister of Energy and Mines added that, “It’s clear that to keep rates low, we must choose the option of building Site C.”
Critics also say the high-risk dam, which could eventually cost $13-billion, won’t lower rates for citizens but raise them.
They also explain that hydroelectric dams are not climate friendly or “clean” by any scientific measure.
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