MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
April 27, 2010

Many concerns about Site C, says Council of Canadians

OTTAWA - The Council of Canadians has sent an open letter to the BC government expressing concerns with the decision to proceed to the regulatory-review process of the Site C dam. The group is seeking to raise concerns about the project's immediate and future impact on the local watershed and communities and the end use of the power that will be generated.

"This project has been on the books for more than a decade. There are good reasons why it has not moved forward and there are serious concerns with the destruction it will cause," says Harjap Grewal, the organization’s British Columbia-Yukon organizer.

"Canada is one of the top ten dam builders in the world and diverts more water than any other country," says Meera Karunananthan, national water campaigner. "This large-scale manipulation of surface water has led to the destruction of wetlands, devastation of fish populations and increased mercury contamination. It is to avoid the large scale environmental destruction that we have moved away from large dam projects in the last few decades."

The organization is also raising questions about the demand for the large power project and is asking that the B.C. government be more transparent about its intentions.

"Conservation should be the top priority when it comes to energy consumption in BC," says Grewal. "If the extra energy from the independent power projects and Site C is simply to support the power demands of mining projects, then that is unacceptable."

The organization is calling on the B.C. government to favour public and community owned renewable energy projects such as wind, solar and micro hydro as a more sustainable way of serving the local power needs of communities. 

The Council of Canadians is also raising the impacts on indigenous peoples as a key concern. "Communities have already been displaced by the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, while others are dealing with the environmental impacts of the expanding oil and gas sector in the area.  Indigenous communities and local farmers have the right to live sustainably where they have lived for generations," says Karunananthan.

The organization supports the public ownership of power, is opposed to the independent power 'run of the river' projects, and warns that the environmental and social impacts of power projects must be a priority.

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For More Information:

Harjap Grewal, BC-Yukon Regional Organizer, Council of Canadians, 604-340-2455,

Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians, 613-795-8685,