Brent Richter/Staff Writer
A small but passionate crowd turned out to a public meeting Wednesday to voice their concerns about a proposal to build an independent power project (IPP) at Phantom Lake.
Hydromax, a subsidiary of Enmax, is applying for permits to build a weir (mini-dam) at the south end of Phantom Lake and a penstock (pipe) running about 800 metres downhill to a powerhouse.
The project is set to produce about 15 mw of energy per year, about 1.5 per cent of the size of Plutonic Power Corporation's proposed Bute Inlet project. The Phantom Lake project should produce enough electricity to power about 5,000 homes.
Because the project is set to produce less than 50 mw, it does not automatically trigger an environmental assessment by the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office or the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. Instead, the company will have to satisfy all the same departments and ministries through Front Counter B.C.
"It ends up with exactly the same permitting requirements, the same environmental study requirements. There is absolutely no compromise, federally or provincially, in the standards required," said Jim Gemmill, director of generation projects for the company.
The main difference, Gemmill conceded, is a lesser degree of public scrutiny for the project, which fast became the biggest issue raised Wednesday night.
André Sobolewski, a Gibsons resident and environmental consultant, cautioned Gemmill on the effect of keeping the public out of the loop.
"The public has concerns, and the more we're kept in the dark, the more our concerns will grow and take on a life of their own - and that's not healthy thing," he said. "The main concern is that the environment comes out better rather than worse."
Jason Herz, a director with the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association (SCCA), told Gemill the SCCA would fight the Phantom Lake project.
"I cannot support the project because I cannot support the methodology," Herz said. "I apologize, but this one's going to be tooth and nail."
Another common concern was how the project would affect the local ecology and wildlife.
During the "off season" of October to June, the lake's level would be lowered by about two to three metres to keep the powerhouse turbines running. Gemmill said this coincides with the rain and snowmelt seasons that sometimes cause the lake level to rise.
During the rest of the year, Hydromax will try to keep the lake at its natural level.
Hydromax's environmental consultant said the project was unlikely to affect aquatic life but it was not yet known how lowering lake levels would affect local grizzlies and black-tailed deer.
Hydromax currently has two run-of-river projects on the Clowhom River just east of Phantom Lake. Gemmill said even if Hydromax is not granted an energy purchasing agreement (EPA) by BC Hydro, the company will proceed to apply for permits to build the weir to direct more water to the two Clowhom projects. BC Hydro is expected to award or deny its EPAs to all IPPs in May.
Other issues raised by attendees were the cutting down of mature forest to make way for the penstock and whether there was an actual demand for the electricity being produced.
Gibsons mayor and avid outdoor enthusiast Barry Janyk was not coy in his disapproval in the project when he spoke with Coast Reporter Wednesday afternoon.
"Phantom Lake is one of the most beautiful places in the Coast Range, or British Columbia, and if there is any negative implications for that most beautiful place, that I personally nominated for provincial park status in 1994, I would be adamantly opposed to anything that is going to negatively affect that area," he said.
