Tadpole muddies waters in dam battle
A tiny tadpole is at the centre of the latest legal fight to stop a massive hydroelectric project in northeastern B.C.
An environmental activist with a history of defending amphibians alleges that the provincial government knowingly overstepped its authority when it gave permission in May for BC Hydro to move tadpoles and frogs from a section of the Peace River upstream from the new Site C dam. Water from the area is slated to be removed in order to build dikes.
Josette Wier and Sierra Club BC filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday, asking for a review into whether the Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations followed the law when it exempted BC Hydro from prosecution for relocating the amphibians, which include toads and salamanders.
The action is the latest in a series of legal salvos from First Nations, environmentalists and land owners to block the multibillion-dollar electricity project that would flood farm land and First Nations hunting and fishing grounds to create the dam and an 83-kilometre-long lake.
The latest petition says a permit is required for such an exemption but a ministry official deliberately issued illegal authorization to avoid possible delays to the dam’s construction schedule.
“Amphibians are dear to my heart,” Wier said. She described the petition as a fight both for the animals and against the Peace River megaproject. “As citizens we really, really have to stand up. The Site C dam is such a shameful story in its own (right) that anything that can stop it, I will stand for.”
In an email, the Forests Ministry said it acted in the public interest.