by Steve Atkinson
The Record
September 9, 2004
On September 1 at 4:00pm there was a public community meeting at the Tahsis Recreation Centre. At this meeting, Geoff Akehurst of Pacific Rim Power Corporation presented the company's Transmission Line Routing proposal for the Zeballos Lake Hydroelectric project. This proposal requires the routing of transmission power lines through the Village of Tahsis.
There were routing options lettered A to C that were presented. Option A was from the Nomanish River logging road to the village's Land Fill site. Sub option A1 was from the Land Fil site to follow along North Maquinna Road. Sub option A2 was again from the Land Fill site to the East Side of the Village of Tahsis going behind the Garden Apartments, the school gorunds and baseball field areas.
Option B was to follow the Extravagant Creek Mainline down to the logging road that leads to the log dump. The power line would then come into the village along South Maquinna Road from the south.
Option C is to go up the northerly side of Extravagant Creek. There would be a 100 ft. wide clear-cut following the creek 30 metres away. Pacific Rim Power has already submitted their Development Plan with this option in mind. It is the shortest power line of 3 options. The proposed power line may not cross residential property but it is still close to commercial areas. The company will use the existing Western Forest Products Right of Way. They propose to utilize the existing poles for the power line and bury a 25kv line.
All these options have visibility impact issues regarding equipment and landscape. Options A and B will require approvals, higher poles and more power line. Any option other than C will delay the project 6 months to a year.
In addition, there would be no need for the company to submit a Development Plan for options A or B. Geoff Akehurst stated that construction must commence this year to meet BC Hydro completion dates.
Drawings of the initially proposed power line, option C, from the powerhouse to the BC Hydro substation in Tahsis was submitted to Council at their regular meeting on March 16. There was an invitation to contact Mr. Akehurst if there were any questions or concerns raised by Council.
At their May 18 regular meeting, Council reported from their May 10 Committee of the Whole meeting. It was reported that there was a consensus that involves a request for the project's beautification of the entrance to town.
During the June 8 Council meeting Mayor McNeill reported on an earlier conversation with Mr. Akehurst. She asked him to consider underground lines to reduce the number of poles on the waterfront.
Reported at the August 3 Council meeting that on July 21 members of Council met with a consultant for Pacific Rim Power. He was informed that it is not suppported for the proposed power line to be coming through the village.
Geoff Akehurst said the 13kv power line could not be buried along Head Bay Road due to government regulations. A property owner suggested using equipment called a Reducer at the old Fire Hall. This way the voltage along Head Bay Road is reduced so the line can be buried. Mr. Akehurst said that this is possible but it would be costly.
On the September 16, 2003 Village of Tahsis Council meeting agenda there was a letter from BC Hydro. They were announcing that a funding program was available for Electric Beautification Projects such as power line burial. Through this program BC Hydro offered to pay for some of the costs. No action was taken by Council at the time. This was due to the lack of available funding. A resident at this afternoon's meeting suggested to Mayor McNeill that perhaps in some way this offer could be revisited.
Pacific Rim Power does not feel confident with Option B. It is felt that they cannot use the Right of Way due to unexpected BC Hydro's permission or other regulations.
A scientist from Toronto was flown out here by the company to look at the Karst Lakes located between Extravagant Mainline and Nomanish logging roads. This was to see if the area's caves have any Park designation qualities. Ironically, options A and C are close to these Karst Caves.
Sub-option A2's arbitrary drawn proposed power line can be moved further away from residences and school areas. However, this would create further visual impact implications.
Out of the blue, Mr. Akehurst stated there will be a planned power line access road for Option C. This would give tourist access from the Extravagant Mainline logging road to visit the Karst Caves. Mayor McNeill stated that regular upkeep of this access road would be funded by government sources if the area is designated as a Park. It is known that construction of the power project must commence this year. Currently, there is only a 4-month window of opportunity left before the end of the year to get government willingness, if any, regarding this matter.
The resident's and property owners expressed many concerns to Geoff Akehurst about Pacific Rim Power's proposal. A major concern was the visual impact on the village's surrounding mountain landscape. There is also the possibility of higher noise levels from the power lines. The village of Tahsis will get $5,000 a year in taxes. Local caver Martin Davis has stated that the Karst routes (Options A and C) are not necessarily stable for the placement of the transmission line poles.
Another concern was an increase in the power lines Eloctro Magnetic Field (EMF) emission and health impact. Mr. Akehurst said therre is a lot of information out there on the subject but studies are inconclusive on the matter.
On the internet there are a lot of biased websites on EMF and the impact that it has on your health. A very informative website I found was called www.powerlinefacts.com/FAQ.htm. It was designed to answer in brief and readily accessible format questions. Facts from this website touch on issues found in the biased websites. It actually claims to be biased as well. This is due to personal issues in regard to a transmission power line routing proposal from a US utility company.
Currently the Village of Tahsis receives electricity on 4 to 5MW capacity. From the previously mentioned website, power lines with 65kv or less usually emit very low levels of magnetic fields. The average US citizen exposure is around 0.5 to 0.75 milliGauss. EMF exposures below 2 milliGauss appear to have no adverse health effects.
The 22MW capacity Zeballos Lake project will be using138kv transmission power lines. According to the website, to deliver a given amount of power, utilities must push more current through low voltage lines than high voltage lines. Therefore, in field measurements show the magnetic field under a 115kv line is often greater than the field under a 345kv line.
Placing of power lines underground, such as the Village of Tahsis preference, is currently the preferred alternative which may alleviate some concerns about EMF exposure. Unfortunately, Electric Fields can only be significantly reduced by physical barriers such as power line burial.
The home page of thisw ebsite can give you access to other academic and government studies. An example shows the value of property near property lines decline by up to 14%.
This website information
has been forwarded to the Village of Tahsis Council members. Mayor McNeill
stated before the adjournment of the meeting that any questions or concerns
regarding Pacific Rim Power's proposal will be welcomed at the village
office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright The
Record, a publication of West's International of Gold River.
Reproduction of this article or photographs, in whole or in part, is illegal
without the written consent of The Record (record@island.net).
The Record is published every second Wednesday in Gold River. Phone: 250
283-2324
Visit our website at: http://www.island.net/~record
home
> nootka/energy
> article
