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VICTORIA — An independent review for the B.C. Utilities Commission raises new doubts about whether B.C. Hydro can stick to its commitment to finish Site C on time and on budget.

Both goals are at risk, with the project in danger of falling a full year behind schedule for diverting the Peace River while eating through the initial contingency budget at a prodigious rate.

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This according to a report from Deloitte LLP, the international accounting and financial consulting firm brought in by the commission to help answer key questions in the NDP-cabinet ordered review of Site C.

Though the firm relied on information provided by B.C. Hydro itself, the findings go beyond anything the Crown corporation has acknowledged in media briefings and public reporting.

The most immediate concern is with the main civil works contract for excavation of the river banks, building the coffer dams and tunnels to divert the river, and then constructing the giant earthworks dam itself.