Two years after local governments lost control over the approval of Independent Power Projects (IPP), Squamish Valley residents and Squamish Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) are still feeling powerless. A disintegrating road and unmet promises over amenities such as a fire hall and a fibre optic line have kept frustrations brewing.Ledcor's run-of-river project on Ashlu Creek moved forward despite local and SLRD opposition in 2006 when the provincial government passed Bill 30, which removes the decision-making process for IPPs out of the regional government's hands. Now that the facility's construction is nearing completion, a string of broken assurances and unfulfilled promises over amenities have left nearby residents feeling more embittered than ever."All the promises that were made are certainly not being kept," said Upper Squamish Valley resident Trudy Bayer.She said Squamish Valley Road is riddled with potholes, and is disintegrating at the sides due to increased traffic and heavy machinery such as concrete and low bed trucks. "It's the worst shape the road's been in 30 years," she said. The potholes have drivers sticking to the centre of the road, which she said is creating an unsafe situation."There's people with kids who don't even want to take them out for a bike ride now."Much of the road would have been spared if Ledcor had stuck to its claim of creating an employee bus to the site, Bayer said. But instead of a bus, she said she sees a convoy of vehicles passing by her home at mile marker 19, often with one person to a vehicle."They used the excuse that they're all on different shifts, but at different points there's like 30 cars coming down all at the same time and they all speed through our 50 kilometre [per hour] residential area." Construction for the project began in the fall of 2006 when a power line was brought into the site. Since then an electrical substation has been built and the work has been going well, said project manager Kelly Boychuck. Workers are currently boring a 4.4-km tunnel connecting the water intake to the powerhouse. There is still more concrete work to be done at the powerhouse before it is erected, at which point turbines and generators will be installed.If everything goes as planned, power from the Ashlu will be feeding into BC Hydro's grid this spring. Boychuck said close to 100 workers are helping to build the facility - a number of them Squamish residents. During operation, the project will employ two full-time operators. The community itself has seen little in return for the creek since the company's main amenity remains untapped. Ledcor committed to making contributions to a Squamish Valley fund, with a first time payment of $400,000 and annual payments of $80,000 for the next 20 years for a total of $2 million. But all this money remains unclaimed since no foundation has been created."I've been waiting to have the Upper Squamish Valley residents form a committee of three people," said Boychuck. "Those three people would sit on the council, I guess you could say, with myself to discuss what amenities are desired and then to allocate the money."Some ideas that came up in previous public meetings were a fire hall, fibre optic line or a children's playground.Bayer said the community would need an SLRD representative to chair a meeting where the committee is formed. But SLRD's chief administrative officer Paul Edgington said he's not sure the board is welcome to take part in the process."[Ledcor] don't appear to be wanting to engage with the regional district. They're wanting the people who live in the Upper Squamish Valley area to form their own committee. I'm not sure [the people] are anxious to do that themselves," he said.In the meantime, the SLRD has opted to sit back and watch as the situation unfolds."Given the treatment we've be given so far we'll just politely wait and see what happens," he said.That treatment included the overruling of the SLRD's rejection of the project with the passing of Bill 30. Residents are also still stinging from the province's means of moving the project forward."I am 100 per cent frustrated with that whole Bill 30. Our rights were taken away from us," said Bayer.Squamish Valley resident Tom Rankin, who fought adamantly to stop the project is still steaming from the government's approach to IPPs."The Ashlu Bill 30 and newer ones like Bill 15 remove our rights, our ability to protect our public utility and our ability to say no to a private power licence," he said.Bill 15 imposes the government's new energy plan on the BC Utilities Commission, including its goal to make B.C. "self-sufficient" by 2016. Some critics say the bill puts corporations before the public, making it more difficult for citizens to examine the information the commission uses to assess projects.Rankin said the bills are the product of government corruption."The provincial government's corruption beyond measure is witnessed as our environment is to be trashed for one value only and deemed usable only as a private renewable energy asset in which the public receives nothing and pays everything." Edgington said SLRD members have not dwelled on disappointment."They've just decided to focus on other things they do have a role in." While the SLRD continues to have little involvement in the project, Boychuck said community relations have improved since construction started. By keeping locals up-to-date on project construction, he says much of the old animosity has been curbed."It was a very small number of local residents, and some people in Squamish who were behind all the original fear mongering campaign that was going on. One of those people moved out and it's been very quiet and a very good relationship."We've held six public meetings for resident of Squamish Valley, usually every quarter -three months - to explain what we'll been doing what next three months of construction." He said about 15 to 20 people attend each meeting, which are held at the North Vancouver Outdoor School. Meeting minutes are not available. Ledcor has also kept up positive ties by delivering tunnel rock to residents of Squamish Valley who use the material to grate areas such as driveways, said Boychuck. Of the several requests for interviews put out to residents, only Bayer and Rankin returned calls from The Chief.Boychuck also said fears over negative impact on wildlife were unfounded. "They [critics] would say that there would be a negative effect on grizzly bears and wildlife, it's actually been just the opposite. We've had grizzly bears and black bears wandering through our site, sometimes watching us."The company has completed about 10,000 metres of new fish habitat down on the Ashlu flood plain, said Boychuck.
