An artist’s rendering of the Site C dam, the third hydro dam on the Peace River. BC Hydro image

Some residents of Nakusp want to bring the fight over the Site C dam project in the Peace River Valley a little closer to home.

A gathering of speakers and activists this Saturday to talk about the project, what it means to B.C. and how to stop it, opens today (Saturday) in Nakusp.

“A group of us here contacted dam opponents in the Peace River a while back, and asked what we could do to help,” says conference organizer Janet Allyn. “They told us that we should put on a symposium on the subject down here, raise awareness of the issue.”

Started in 2014, but tied up in political and legal red tape ever since, the Site C dam is the third dam project on the Peace, and will produce 5100 GW hours of power annually. But to do so, it has to flood one of the last remaining agricultural valleys in the province. B.C. Hydro says the project has undergone thorough environmental review that justifies the project. Opponents say it will be a white elephant taxpayers will be burdened by for years – not to mention the environmental damage flooding causes, and the loss of productive agricultural land.

“There are many parallels to the Site C project, and what happened here in the Arrow Lakes 60 years ago,” says Allyn.

“Despite the government’s decision to proceed it is not too late,” symposium organizers say in a news release. “The West Moberly First Nations recently won a six-month injunction halting BC Hydro contractors from clear cutting their old growth forest for placement of the transmission line from the dam. And it’s “back to the drawing board” for the architects to reconfigure the dam’s spillway.

“Until the reservoir actually fills, there remains hope that the government could reverse its decision to proceed with this ill-fated project.”

The “Saving the Peace- Changing the Site C Paradigm” Symposium, to be held at the Auditorium of the Nakusp Sports Complex, will gather a variety of speakers, including:Keynote speaker Ken Boon (President of the Peace Valley Landowners Assoc.),

Gwen Johansson (Mayor of Hudson Hope),

Eileen Delehanty Pearkes (author of many books about the region, including the Columbia River Treaty),

Candace Batycki (Ecologist)

Later in the afternoon, the symposium will form breakout groups to further discuss and brainstorm at grassroots level, ways to prevent the drowning of this valley.

After the conference concludes at 4:30 p.m., there will be a dinner break, and a concert at 7:00 p.m. featuring Luke Wallace representing the Peace River Valley, along with local performers.



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Protests, like this one from Quadra Island last year, have accompanied each stage of the Site C dam project.

Huge hydro power projects like Site C have come under political, environmental and legal challenge.