The B.C. Green party has challenged the provincial NDP government’s stance that the controversial Site C Dam must go ahead because it has gone past “the point of no return,” calling for the province to abandon the project.

Green MLA Sonia Furstenau noted that the province cannot blame the project’s current uncertain state on the novel coronavirus shutting down work around the province. She said one of the main points identified by BC Hydro – a geological instability in the right bank of Site C that has been determined to require additional work on the project’s foundations in that area – was there long before March.

“The overall project health was red as of December 2019, due to significant cost pressures from geotechnical instability and contract disputes. The issue of geotechnical instability has been raised by experts for years,” Furstenau said. “So this risk should come as a surprise to no-one.”

The Greens are suggesting an alternative portfolio of renewables to replace the energy production expected at Site C, which has been planned as the backbone of several major industrialization initiatives in northern B.C., including the LNG Canada project.

Business Intelligence for B.C., July 31, 2020