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Many voices speak out against IPPs

The Arrow Lakes Environment Stewardship Society is committed in taking a stand against IPPs.

Editor,

The Arrow Lakes Environment Stewardship Society is committed in taking a stand against IPPs – especially those proposed for the Arrow region. Here are some excerpts of what some people have said about proposed Arrow IPPs:

 

I say NO to all independent power producers and YES to a moratorium on all IPPs in B.C. until they are regionally planned, environmentally appropriate, and publically owned.

A. Barbasiewicz

Burton

 

 

As president of the Slocan Streamkeepers and Steering Committee member on the Columbia Basin Watershed Network, I would like to echo the sentiment of others. We have addressed issues arising from proposals for Independent Power Projects at other locations in the Kootenays – Glacier/Howser and locally, a project on Koch Creek in the Slocan Valley. In summary, it’s disappointing to know this will all happen again in the Arrow waterways of St. Leon, Burton, Snow, Caribou, Stone, the Illecillewaet and the Incomappleux. There is no question, because of their hight ecological value, our community will oppose these projects.

Jennifer Yeow

Passmore

 

 

I wish to add my voice to those who oppose Independent Power Projects. They are detrimental to fish and fish habitat, and therefore to all wildlife that rely on fish – bear, osprey, eagles, herons to name a few. A moratorium on IPPs in perpetuity is the only ethical, acceptable decision the government can make.

P. McMechan

Burton

 

IPP licensing no longer has a welcome place  in the upper Columbia Basin. People here are aware that they have over contributed to provincial hydro production. Significant damming of the Columbia/Kootenay River systems already provide over 50 per cent of hydro power in this province. The trickle down environmental costs in terms of water quality, species alteration, climate change, lost agriculture, life style and recreational opportunity are only recently starting to be understood. As that understanding increases so does our reluctance to further involve our place in this destruction. The licences reflect only commodification of precious natural systems and do not reflect local values. We already gave enough!

Gerry Nellestijn, Coordinator

The Salmo River Watershed

 

 

I wish to protest against Independent Power Producers because I care about our rivers. I care about the environment and I care about what we will be leaving for our granchildren. I support a moratorim on all IPPs  in B.C. until they are regionally planned, environmentally appropriate and publically owned.

D.Colmen

Arrow Park

 

 

I write with particular concern about rivers and streams in the Columbia Basin. The Columbia Basin already has numerous large dams that provide a very large percentage of power in BC. The  Arrow Lakes fishery was heavily impacted.

The B.C. government and BC Hydro, and in more recent years the Department of Oceans and Fisheries, have worked for years to restore the fish in the Arrow Lakes Reservoir. In the six years from 2003 to 2008, the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program spent a minimum of $11.87 million of public money restoring fish in the Arrow Lakes Reservoir and Kootenay Lake. Since 1999 Columbia Basin Trust and the Columbia Power Corporation have contributed an additional $1.5 million to fish fertilization on the upper Arrow Lake alone. Today the recreational lake fishery is worth $1 million direct revenue per year in the local community, and an additional $2 million indirect revenue.

Your government has been making a great show of saving fish on the lake while you have been destroying the spawning habitat in the river and creek valleys with overcutting and IPPs. Now you are targeting our rivers and creeks for IPPs that will likely be the death of our fish. Don’t talke to us about “mitigation.” The mitigation for the big dams has only barely worked and now you are proposing to squander the money that’s been spent and deal another blow to the fish.

No IPPS in the Arrow Lakes basin. Your IPPs and pipelines are building crowds and crowds of people against the Liberal government.

Anne Sherrod

Vallhalla Wilderness Cociety

New Denver

 

 

We have received a number of letters regarding these projects with numerous concerns ranging from environmental to financial. It is important that the provincial government take these concerns seriously. As well as the potential environmental impacts on this special area, it is a fact that many of the current government’s contracts with private sector power producers resulted in a large financial loss to BC Hydro this past spring. Adrian Dix and B.C.’s New Democrats are committed to restoring the regulatory role of the B.C. Utilities Commission, putting a moratorium on signing any further independent power contracts, and reviewing existing contracts to determine whether they are in the public interest. Please continue to speak out for what you believe in and to stand up for the protection of what is most valuable.

Edna Brown

Constituency Assistant for

Katrine Conroy, MLA

Kootenay West

 

 

Join the ALESS growing letter writing campgain today by calling Hans (250) 265-3430 or e-mail: bunky@burtoncity.ca

Hans Dummerauf, ALESS