Volume 14 Certified

1 IN THE MATTER OF THE JOINT REVIEW PANEL ("JOINT PANEL") ESTABLISHED TO REVIEW THE SITE C CLEAN ENERGY PROJECT ("PROJECT") PROPOSED BY BRITISH COLUMBIA HYDRO AND POWER AUTHORITY ("BC HYDRO") CANADA ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AGENCY AND BRITISH COLUMBIA ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OFFICE _______________________________________ PROCEEDINGS AT HEARING January 8, 2014 Volume 14 Pages 1 to 262 ________________________________________ C o p y ________________________________________ Held at: George Dawson Inn 11705 8th Street Dawson Creek, British Columbia Realtime Connection [email protected] 2 APPEARANCES JOINT REVIEW PANEL: Dr. Harry Swain - Chairman Ms. Jocelyne Beaudet Mr. Jim Mattison Brian Wallace, Esq. (Legal Counsel) THE SECRETARIAT: Courtney Trevis (panel Co-Manager) Brian Murphy (panel Co-Manager) PARTICIPANTS: Craig Godsoe, Esq., BC Hydro (Legal Counsel) Peter Feldberg, Esq., BC Hydro (Legal Counsel) Ms. Bridget Gilbride, BC Hydro (Legal Counsel) REALTIME COURT REPORTING: Mainland Reporting Services, Inc. Nancy Nielsen, RPR, CSR(A), RCR Leanne Kowalyk, OCR AUDIO/SOUND SYSTEM: AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions Alex Barbour. Technical Services Representative. Realtime Connection [email protected] 3 INDEX OF PROCEEDINGS DESCRIPTION PAGE NO. Opening remarks by the Chairman: 5 BC Hydro panel: 9 Susan Yurkovich Al Strang John Nunn Mike Savidant Siobhan Jackson Judy Reynier Trevor Proverbs Opening comment and undertaking 10 response by BC Hydro: Presentation by Mr. Blair Lekstrom: 22 presentation by Mr. Donald Hoffmann: 82 presentation by Diane Culling: 90 presentation by Mr. James Little: 103 Presentation by British Columbia's 120 Women's Institute: Jill Copes Ruth Veiner Patsy Nagel Maya Wenger Presentation by Gwen Johansson: 140 Presentation by Mr. Hadland: 160 Presentation by Ms. Doreen Hadland: 169 Presentation by Roy Kelly: 176 Presentation by Mr. Kevin knoblauch: 186 Presentation by Mr. Paul Gevatkoff: 209 Presentation by Wayne Dahlen: 215 Presentation by Blair Qualey and Jim 228 Inkster: Closing remarks by hydro: 253 Realtime Connection [email protected] 4 INDEX OF UNDERTAKINGS DESCRIPTION PAGE NO. UNDERTAKING 43: BC Hydro to provide 77 the panel with the references for the past studies on the horticultural potential of the Peace River Valley alluvial plain. UNDERTAKING 44: Provide the panel with 174 the details of the calculation for the values of the loss of opportunities, specifically for the example of blueberry growing in the Peace River Valley. UNDERTAKING 45: Provide the panel with 241 the breakdown of vehicles running from alternative energy sold since the incentive program started Realtime Connection [email protected] 5 1 January 8, 2014 2 Dawson Creek, British Columbia 3 (Proceedings commenced at 1:02 p.m.) 4 5 Opening remarks by the Chairman: 6 THE CHAIRMAN: Good afternoon, ladies and 7 gentlemen, and welcome to the general session in 8 Dawson Creek of the hearings regarding the Site C 9 project. 10 First of all, I should express our 11 appreciation for the Treaty 8 First Nations in 12 whose Traditional Territory we are holding this 13 hearing. 14 My name is Harry Swain, and to my left is 15 James Mattison, and to my right is Jocelyne 16 Beaudet, my colleagues on the panel. 17 The Secretariat staff, who are the people who 18 have name tags on them, will be able to assist you 19 with any questions you might have. 20 We have court reporters and audio-visual 21 staff as well. 22 The purpose of this session is to hear 23 comments from the public about the project. The 24 hearing is also designed to provide opportunities 25 for BC Hydro to explain the proposed project and to Mainland Reporting Services Inc. [email protected] 6 1 respond to concerns and questions people raise. 2 Our job as a panel is to assess and provide 3 conclusions on the environmental, economic, social, 4 health, and heritage effects of the project in a 5 manner consistent with the requirements of the 6 Canadian Environmental Assessment Act 2012 and the 7 BC Environmental Assessment Act. 8 We are also required to recommend mitigation 9 measures and follow-up programs for the management 10 of these effects should the project proceed. 11 And we're supposed to include a summary of 12 information received at this hearing that may help 13 governments determine the justification for the 14 project considering any mitigation measures should 15 it proceed. 16 The panel will receive information regarding 17 the manner in which the project may adversely 18 effect asserted or established Aboriginal Rights 19 and Treaty Rights as well as information regarding 20 the location, extent and exercise of those rights 21 as they may be affected by the project. 22 The panel cannot make any determination on 23 the nature and scope of asserted Aboriginal Rights 24 or their strength, or on the scope of the Crown's 25 duty to consult, or whether the Crown has met its Mainland Reporting Services Inc. [email protected] 7 1 duty to consult and accommodate. The panel also 2 cannot make a determination on Treaty 3 interpretation or whether elements of the project 4 infringe Treaty No. 8. All this goes to 5 better-paid people. 6 We are an independent panel. We are not 7 BC Hydro. We are not part of the Government of 8 Canada or the Government of BC. We are appointed 9 by the two governments for a short time to conduct 10 an assessment of the effects of the proposed 11 project under the relevant laws. 12 After the hearings, we will prepare a report 13 for the Federal Minister of the Environment and for 14 the Executive Director of the BC Environmental 15 Assessment Office. This report will be submitted 16 within 90 days of the close of the hearing and will 17 be made available to the public by the governments, 18 not us. But in an unredacted form. 19 Your participation and involvement is very 20 important to us, and we trust it is helpful to both 21 BC Hydro and other participants. 22 I want to assure you that we take our 23 responsibility in this matter very seriously. We 24 ask everyone here to do the same. 25 When you speak to us, you are not required to Mainland Reporting Services Inc. [email protected] 8 1 give evidence under oath, and you are certainly not 2 required to have a lawyer, but everyone is expected 3 to speak honestly and to give good information. 4 Our duty is to remain independent and 5 impartial. As a result, we cannot engage in 6 private discussion on these matters with anyone 7 involved in these proceedings. We do apologize if 8 we appear detached or unapproachable. We just need 9 to ensure that our behaviour does not give anyone 10 any reason to be concerned regarding our 11 impartiality. 12 All the documents filed in this proceeding 13 will be placed on the public record unless 14 otherwise ordered by the panel as a result of a 15 formal request for confidentiality. Our strong 16 preference is to avoid accepting information that 17 can't be shared. 18 You should also note that transcripts are 19 being produced by our court reporter. For that 20 reason, it is essential that you use the 21 microphones when speaking and speak reasonably 22 slowly. Transcripts of testimony will be available 23 on the website the day after the hearing. 24 When you do come forward to speak, please 25 identify yourself and spell your last name for the Mainland Reporting Services Inc. [email protected] 9 1 court reporter. 2 When it comes time for questions, I remind 3 you to address questions or comments to me as the 4 panel chair. I will then direct them to the 5 appropriate person or group for a response. 6 We will go through the presentations that 7 have been signalled in advance and prepared by 8 interested parties and are on the agenda. At the 9 end of that period, if there are further comments 10 that people wish to make, time permitting, we will 11 do so. 12 When we have heard from everybody who wants 13 to speak or for whom there is time for speaking, we 14 will turn to BC Hydro and provide them an 15 opportunity to respond. 16 I would now like to turn to BC Hydro for 17 their opening comments. 18 19 BC Hydro panel: 20 Susan Yurkovich 21 Al Strang 22 John Nunn 23 Mike Savidant 24 Siobhan Jackson 25 Judy Reynier Mainland Reporting Services Inc. [email protected] 10 1 Trevor Proverbs 2 3 Opening comment and undertaking response by BC Hydro: 4 MS. YURKOVICH: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 5 Good afternoon. 6 I would like to start with the undertaking 7 that you directed to us last evening around coal 8 seams and ask Mr. Nunn to respond if that's all 9 right. 10 MR. NUNN: Thank you, Susan. 11 Mr. Chair, the issue of coal seams within the 12 bedrock which would be submerged by the reservoir 13 was raised yesterday. The bedrock geology is 14 described in Volume 2, Section 11.2, and Appendix B 15 part two. 16 Minor, that's thin coal seams are present 17 within some of the sedimentary bedrock units. 18 However, the coal seams are not linked to any 19 landslides, because, in fact, landslides within the 20 area are controlled by bedding plane shears which 21 have clay seams within the shale. 22 Also, creation of the reservoir is not 23 expected to cause any issues with acid rock 24 drainage or metal leaching from the coal which -- 25 and any associated mineralization, because once the Mainland Reporting Services Inc.

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