The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) soundly rejected a proposal for an independent power project (IPP) on Freil Lake at the Oct. 15 planning and development committee meeting.
The IPP, proposed by PS Hydro Ltd., would see Freil Lake drained to 1.7 metres to power water-driven turbines at sea level. Seawater would then be pumped from Hotham Sound back up to the lake so the process could be repeated. The proposed project would produce 400MW of electricity.
The SCRD does not hold decision-making power over the IPP, which is still in the very early planning stages. The decision came after the Integrated Land Management Bureau (ILMB) asked the committee for a referral or opinion on the project.
The committee voted on staff recommendations to strongly oppose the project based on a lack of information on sub-surface water in the lake, the ecological impacts of changing a watershed from freshwater to saltwater, the Freil Creek estuary, salinity changes to Hotham Sound, the oyster industry or laying submarine cable.
The staff report also raises concerns about how the IPP would affect recreational boat travel to the area and how the proposed transmission lines would run through SCRD recreational areas and through the proposed SCRD "ferry to ferry trail."
In its response to the ILMB, the committee asks that the SCRD be provided with a report justifying the need for the project as well as full federal and provincial environmental assessment studies in which the SCRD can help design terms of reference.
Gibsons director and mayor Barry Janyk ended the discussion colourfully: "I think when this type of insanity comes to town, we all need to stand up and tell them which direction to the asylum," he said.
