RETROSPECTIVE Run of River Proposed in the Aughts
Plutonic Power is a Green Energy company in pursuit of new run of river hydro in a couple of energy hot spots on the central coast of B.C.. A lot of people have heard about Plutonic because they get the message out and because the opposition does too.
Elisha McCallum works in the communications area for Plutonic Power when the current dialogue about run of river in much of the media contains an element of opposition that Elisha is unabashed to address. “Many opponents discount the partnerships that we have developed with First Nations, and news about these important relationships is not much on the radar.”
As far as hydro projects go, the main Plutonic projects in question are not big, expansive, or invasive electrical energy generation projects. One would power up 45,000 homes, another would do about the same, and another would do a quarter of a million homes.
The opposition comes from the vocal environmental lobby on the west coast that has formed over the past couple of decades in the midst of a rapidly changing economy.
Bute Inlet is an epic-sized inlet on the Inside Passage opposite Vancouver Island and north of Powell River that leads deep into the mainland. It is traditional waters of the Homalco community, members of the Salish Nation. This is ‘border territory’ well-defended by the Salish against all comers and these included Kwakwakw’wakw, Haida, Nuu Chah Nulth and probably people from the south, perhaps Makah.
Coast Salish people always had a different view of the way things run on the coast. It is difficult to imagine why they stayed free of Potlatch economics. Several nations in their midst nothing did nothing that was done outside the Potlatch. Perhaps the Coast Salish nation was self-sufficient and only conducted bilateral relations with other nations. They fiercely defended their own nation.
It is territory worth defending, for, much like the new Great Bear Rain Forest to the north coast region, Bute Inlet at one extreme of the Hulqumeneum speakers territory has a unique ecological position that is extremely fruitful in terms of ‘nature’s bounty.’
Then again, even in terms of our modern era, what part of the west coast isn’t? Nor is that reason, because it is one among many, to surrender the region to all kinds of industrial folly. First we must realize that 100 years of industrial logging in this close proximity to rich markets can’t have been kind to Homalco and other Salishan territories.
Run-of-river hydro is probably seen as a benefit to the Homalco people since they have (re)elected a business-oriented chief in Richard Harry. But Chief Harry might also be using run-of-river as part of a program to refurbish logging destructed forests in his traditional territory. Would it help if an industry that doesn’t rape and pillage and was part-owned by a First Nation took hold in there? Would that preclude the others coming in?
Elisha McCallum, “From the very beginning we have developed the relationship with Homalco right from the Environmental Assessment stage. We have since been closely engaged with Klahoose, Sliammon, and Sechelt communities.” These are the Coast Salish communities that have always had the biggest stake in the ongoing battlefield of Bute Inlet, especially the refranchised Homalco Band that took almost a century to return to form.
The Plutonic project in Bute Inlet is the larger one and it impacts tributaries of three main rivers: the Oxford, Southgate, and Homatchko, several tributaries of which will be ‘electrified’. This triad of electrified river systems is the larger of the two projects, while two Toba Valley projects are also in Salish territory and Plutonic deals with all three communities, and in addition the Sechelt.
“Toba Valley all came together really well,” said Elisha. This despite the fact that these (and perhaps all) First Nations are wary (from long and exhaustive experience). “We went to each community hat-in-hand and ate meals, went fishing,” did stuff, said Elisha, “to show we are there for the long-term.”
“It becomes community and it’s how we do business. We highly value the input from these (long-serving) stewards of such a vast territory. In fact their feedback is essential to doing the project right.”
Plutonic works with First Nation land stewards to design projects around habitat issues. No homes are disturbed for the fish, goats, or grizzly bears. They began construction in 2007 based on all the work they did starting in 2003. They hope to be done by 2011, “if everything goes as planned and smoothly.”
