The Renewable Power Corporation may get support for their Tyson Creek and Narrows Inlet power projects from the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), despite a turbidity event that shut down the Tyson Creek plant for four months last year.
"We ended up after about a four-month period with an environmental assessment on the whole thing, which basically indicated that there was no material effect as a result of the sedimentation that went downstream," said Marc Soprovich of the Renewable Power Cor-poration at an Oct. 13 planning and development meeting at the SCRD.
"I think there was a lot of misinformation out there and it became a very contentious issue in the press and so on, but the report came out saying there was no environmental effect."
Soprovich and his partner Peter Schober were at the planning meeting to ask for a letter of support from the SCRD for the work they did to address the sedimentation issue and their future plans to create five more run of river projects in the Narrows Inlet.
"That's really what we would like to ask the regional district for - some support of small business," Soprovich said.
Directors, however, wanted more information on the turbidity problem found last May, before making any decisions.
"In our case the source of the turbidity was a delta that was created as the glacier left thousands and thousands of years ago. And so as a result if you've ever been up north or anywhere where there's been any glacier activity, you get this sort of milky whitish turbidity which is basically clay," Soprovich explained.
"It's not actually sand or gravel or anything like that, its suspended clay. And this stuff, if you pour it through a coffee filter, it will go right through. It's so fine that what the environmental assessment indicated, was that it went through the plant, through the entire system into the ocean and kept on going.
"So those types of events disperse differently than normal sediment situations and as a result that's why there is no marked effect on the environment due to our sediment loading versus any other type."
He said, as a result of the event, the company now has the most monitoring sites in North America for any run-of-river hydro project.
"We have 17 monitoring sites in the Tzoonie Valley and on Tyson Creek. We've been able to gather information on this water system that actually no one has ever done before. We're learning all about how sediments transfer and the type of natural sediment that goes through the system because we're the first company that's actually been asked to look at it," Soprovich said.
Directors seemed pleased with the steps taken to monitor the site.
"I would suggest that what we would need would be something substantive on paper as to exactly what your program is and perhaps staff have been receiving these reports, but they haven't actually made their way to our table," said Roberts Creek director Donna Shugar. "I think that in fairness we would want to see that kind of material and then be able to consider a letter to the authorities saying that we like the direction you are going."
In the end the directors decided to wait until Renewable Power Corporation submits a formal letter to the SCRD asking for support. When the letter is received staff will prepare a report on the project and give direction and suggestions about what kind of support might be offered.
