The province is about to announce a decision on the decades-old proposal to build a massive hydroelectric-generating dam, known as Site C, in northeastern B.C., says Energy Minister Blair Lekstrom.
Lekstrom won't say exactly when the government will announce the decision, but suggests it will be soon because they have promised one this spring.
The Site C dam mega-project near Fort St. John would cost an estimated $6 billion, but will produce enough electricity to power 460,000 homes.
Heralded by some as British Columbia's energy saviour since the 1970s, the project has been reviled by environmentalists and farmers for its destructive potential.
"The key issue is that we're going to live up to the commitment that we made, one way or the other we're going to make a determination to either proceed or not proceed," said Lekstrom.
If the government decides to move ahead, the proposed project will undergo environmental assessments and consultations with local First Nations, area residents and governments, he said.
"Ultimately, it will be government's decision to proceed or not proceed to the next stage," he said.
Site C would be the third hydroelectric dam on the Peace River, joining the W.A.C. Bennett and Peace Canyon dams.
Crown-owned B.C. Hydro says the proposed dam would be located about seven kilometres southwest of Fort St. John on the Peace River.
Site C, providing about 900 megawatts of power, would create an 83-kilometre long reservoir and flood more than 5,340 hectares of land in the Peace River Valley.
B.C. Hydro said the dam would create clean, renewable energy while emitting minimal greenhouse gases.
But people, buildings and roadways will have to be moved and wildlife and farmlands will be lost.
Matt Horne, of the Pembina Institute, said he expects environmental groups and some area First Nations to voice strong concerns about any decision to move ahead with Site C.
Environmental groups are concerned that the government appears to be considering huge projects on an individual basis rather than looking at developments and their potential environmental impacts on a more province-wide basis, he said.
"It would be concerning to see the province move ahead, or continue moving ahead with the project, without any meaningful decision-making process about the types and scale of projects we're pursuing," Horne said.
Last April, during the B.C. election campaign in which the Liberals were re-elected to their third consecutive term, Peace River area grain farmer Nick Parsons drove his combine to Victoria to protest the Site C proposal.
Parsons, 61, driving the combine he called Peace Valley Rose, said the proposed dam will lead to loss of valuable farmland.
But B.C. Hydro has said the project would be subject to myriad reviews and assessments before it could proceed.
"Should the provincial government decide to continue pursuing Site C, the project would be subject to provincial and federal regulatory review including comprehensive environmental assessment and permitting processes," said a report on the corporation's website.
"Effects on the environment include flooding and water flow impacts on fish, wildlife and agricultural land, local air quality impacts and construction impacts," said the Hydro website.
Lekstrom said consultation with local residents, including First Nations, will require significant effort if the project moves to the next stage.
Last January, the Liberal government and the Peace River area Tsay Keh Dene First Nation reached a compensation agreement more than four decades after homes, burial grounds and hunting territories were flooded to create the W.A.C. Bennett.
Some members of the Tsay Keh Dene were forced from their Fort Grahame homes in the Peace River Valley in 1967 to make way for the W.A.C. Bennett Dam and the massive Williston Reservoir.
The January agreement between the B.C. government, B.C. Hydro and the band gave the aboriginal band a one-time payment of $20.9 million and annual payments of $2 million for as long as power is produced at the facility.
