By Roy L Hales

While the eyes of the world are focused on COP 21 in Paris, a dozen Peace River valley residents decided to send the Canadian Government a message. Esther Pedersen, who agreed to become the organizer,  said she was contacted on Monday night. Two days later they gathered at the Old Fort Road entrance to Site C so they could  protest the environmental devastation of the Peace valley.

Environmental Devastation of the Peace

On their Site C website, BC Hydro states that during their first 100 days They:

• built a temporary work camp for 300 workers
• are building a 1,600- person lodge
• “900 metres of public road improvements have been completed, with another 1.6 km underway”
• “approximately 15 km of construction access roads are under construction”

They have also “cleared approximately 530 hectares of land.”

“Our property is river view as BC Hydro and the Gov’t (Crown land) owns the property below our farm. They were in their right to clear below but they only had permit for “site prep” work when they began clearing below our farmland some 2-4 kilometers approximately away from site! ” said Pederson.

She added, “Crews intend to log this Valley while the often marshy ground is frozen and while hibernating species such as bears are sleeping in shallow dens and the ungulates are down in the valley and on the Islands for refuge. While it is common logging practice to log in the winters it worked when loggers logged by hand during daylight hours. But now with the indiscriminate logging 24 hours/day by operators in machines, away from the elements and ground levels, many many wildlife dens and homes are lost to this capitalist way of clearing land.”

Vast numbers of deer, moose, elk, wolverine, bear and three wolf packs have all been driven from their forest homes and seek refuge in the valley below.

Peterson said an estimate that only 35 farms will be impacted by the dam originates from propaganda that B.C. Hydro printed in 1980. She was shocked to see this same description, reprinted word for word, in 2010. There are homes on what was then vacant land.

Prior to construction, Pederson’s property would have been described as river view. Now she is concerned that her frontage has been so weakened it could slide into the Peace River. The real estate value may have dropped as much as 80%.

As BC Hydro has mentioned “one” property that will be irreparably damaged, Pederson asked them if it was her’s. They told her “no”, Ken and Arlene Boon’s farm will be under water.

The Demonstration

The Boons were in the Lower Mainland when the demonstration was held Wednesday.

They joined Richard Bullock, the former Chair of the Agricultural Land Commission, and others taking  part in the “Bountiful Peace” presentations in Richmond and Yarrow.

Meanwhile, at  9:30 on Wednesday, December 2, a dozen people met at one of the Old Fort Road entrance to Site C.

Some of them had probably been there on October 17, when the Green Party candidate for this riding decided to send a last message to Ottawa before the election. Around 50 people responded to her invitation. They brought signs saying signs saying things like “Site C sucks,” “No Consent for Site C,” “Stop Site C, Run Burrard Thermal” and “Shame.” Whenever a vehicle arrived, everyone stood to the side and let it pass.

This time was different. Mark Meiers subsequently told the Alaska Highway News that he had “a last minute epiphany.” Meters blocked the road. This led to his arrest, for breaching the peace, an hour later.

“This should’ve happened a long time ago, what I’m doing right now,” the unrepentent Meiers told two RCMP officers.

Inspector Michael Kurvers, head of the Fort St. John RCMP detachment, informed the other protestors that Meiers was being arrested for breaching the peace.

To which Pederson responded, “BC Hydro is breaching the Peace, we’re trying to prevent it.”

Meiers was driven into town and later released without charge.

The Rights Of Those Living Near Dam Sites

“We need to respect the rights of those living near dam sites. Before Site C is built, more collaboration is required to find ways to avoid its damaging effects. If such mitigation is impossible, then the project should be abandoned in favour of solar, turbine, conservation and other cleaner and less-damaging technologies. Because, after all, it is 2015,” said Boon.

Top Photo Credit: South bank clearing ,Site C dam site – Courtesy Don Hoffmann