Detailed Response to USVCG

USVCG Concern #1
"Pemberton Valley, British Columbia. The Miller Creek IPP visibly scars this valley, the mountainside, and the creek. A new road into the alpine, pipeline corridor erosion, oversized powerlines, fish-killing tailing spills, Department of Fisheries and Oceans investigations, and project revisions post-approval. Low impacts is not a representative term for this project. There are no guarantees the Ashlu project will be anything that this one is not."

Our Response
The Ashlu Project will generally not be visible from anywhere in the Upper Squamish Valley because an underground tunnel will be used to transport the water from the intake to the powerhouse. The tunnel will be built by boring through rock up to 200 metres (600 feet) below the surface. Moreover, the entire Ashlu creek is already bordered by an existing access road that was built for logging purposes. Therefore only limited clearing will be required to access construction sites.

USVCG Concern #2
"The headpond for the Upper Mamquam River Diversion. This area used to be an active river and is now a stagnant reservoir which changed the balance of nature forever. BC Hydro's "green criteria" allow for 24 hours of storage in these IPP headponds, while still allowing the project to qualify as green energy. The headpond for the Ashlu Creek project could contain approximately 2,000,000 Cubic Metres of water, and still meet BC Hydro's criteria. The Ashlu project alone would divert 25% more water than the Upper Mamquam Project."

Our Response
The picture below is the headpond of the Lower Mamquam Project, which has been operating for almost a decade. The Mamquam and Ashlu Projects are located in a similar, narrow canyon environment. Although Ashlu Creek has more water than the Mamquam River, the headpond for the Ashlu Project will be no larger than the Mamquam Project's. This is because the narrow canyon environment allows no significant amount of water storage. The maximum volume stored will be equal to 1.5 hours of flow, which equates to less than 150,000 Cubic Metres of water.

Headpond of the Mamquam Project

USVCG Concern #3
"The Rutherford Creek IPP between Whistler and Pemberton British Columbia is licensed to divert 17.6 cubic meters of water per second. This picture is of the intake structure for Rutherford water tubes. This is small when compared to the proposed project on Ashlu Creek, which would divert 29 cubic metres per second - 60% more than the Rutherford diversion."

Our Response
The Ashlu intake will use the same low impact rubber weir concept as in use at Rutherford, which includes an approximately 2m high concrete sill and 3m rubber dam. However, the disturbances at the Ashlu intake site will be smaller due to the use of an underground tunnel rather than a pipeline. The rock shown in the picture at Rutherford was used to cover the pipeline - this will not be required at Ashlu.

USVCG Concern #4
"The excavation and blasting for the Mamquam river IPP has ripped the mountainsides and canyons apart. This second project on the Mamquam River will soon send even more surface waters into pipes producing electricity for the global electrical markets."

Our Response
A pipeline is being installed for the Upper Mamquam Project, which is more visible during construction than the tunnel proposed for the Ashlu Creek Project. Even if a pipeline were to be used, it is generally only visible during construction as it is buried and grassed as can be seen in the newly completed Rutherford Creek Project below, which now provides bear habitat.

The Ashlu powerhouse will require surface rock excavation but the amount of rock to be removed will be limited due to the confined area where the powerhouse and the tunnel portal will be located. After construction, any areas disturbed by construction activities will be revegetated.

USVCG Concern #5
"Mamquam River IPP intake structure pollutes the fresh water. Does this seem to meet the criteria of being environmentally friendly? The Ashlu proposal calls for a larger structure to be built in the the canyon which is lined with avalanches, new and old. The Ashlu avalanches have one common characteristic. Any man made structures in the Ashlu would be subject to avalanche damage"

Our Response
The colour of the water in the first picture is the natural colour of the Mamquam River during spring run-off when snow melts and carries sand and mud into the river. Once spring run-off is over, the river returns to its natural, clear state until the next spring season.

The proposed intake structure for the Ashlu Project will be a similar size to the Mamquam Project. The Ashlu intake has been purposely located in a stable area upstream and away from rock and/or landslides including a snow avalanche track that has been identified by loggers in the area.

The Mamquam in spring

The Mamquam in summer

USVCG Concern #6
"The Rutherford Creek powerhouse under construction in 2003 - near Whistler, British Columbia. The proposed Ashlu project would divert 60% more water, require larger transmission and switching equipment, and have a huge impact on the Ashlu valley."

Our Response
Although the Ashlu and Rutherford Projects are of similar generation capacity, the height of the Ashlu powerhouse will be smaller than Rutherford's because different turbine equipment will be used.

No power lines are planned up the Ashlu valley. The only power line will be along the existing Forest Service Road from the Ashlu powerhouse to the BC Hydro power lines, a distance of 2.5 km.

There are no proposed power projects upstream of the Ashlu Project. The streams around the old Ashlu Gold Mine have been staked for power purposes for the mine itself, which has been abandoned since the late 1930's. The water licenses for Tatlow and Falk Creeks have been returned.

Rutherford Creek Powerhouse

USVCG Concern #7
"This tailing pond collects runoff from the blasted and excavated areas of the second, lower Mamquam River project, under construction now. This kind of drainage is deadly to fish and waterborne life. We fish in the Squamish. Squamish First Nation uses the Squamish River as fish food supply. Local residents of the upper Squamish valley have their drinking water wells downstream from the Ashlu and Sigurd Creek/Crooked Falls proposed sites. Clean drinking water is essential to our lives. The Ashlu Creek powerhouse would be built in high-quality salmon habitat. Immediately downstream is more valuable salmon habitat."

Our Response
Strict environmental laws apply to the construction of the Ashlu Project and all other run-of-river projects proposed in BC. There will be a full time Environmental Monitor on site at all times during construction activities. The Environmental Monitor will follow a construction management plan, which has already been prepared and independently reviewed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The plan provides procedures to follow, including sediment control, during all phases of construction to ensure that little (if any) harm is done to the environment. In addition, environmental monitoring at the site will continue for 5 years after construction has been completed.

USVCG Concern #8
"High-tension powerlines near the Mamquam River project in Squamish. In the Squamish Forest District, only two major valleys remain free of powerlines… The Upper Squamish is one of these places, now free from powerlines."

Our Response
The power lines shown in the picture on the USVUG website are not from the Mamquam Project; rather, they are BC Hydro's 500kV lines that extend from the Peace River to the Lower Mainland. These power lines are the backbone of BC's electrical grid.

The Ashlu Project will have a 230kV power line on wooden poles,making it significantly smaller and less visible than the 500kV line show in the picture. The power line will extend only 2.5km from the Ashlu powerhouse and tie into BC Hydro's existing power line. No new cables will have to be strung on BC Hydro's existing steel towers in the Upper Squamish Valley. The new power line will not be visible from the Upper Squamish Valley.

USVCG Concern #9
"The powerhouse on the Lower Mamquam River project, along with the switching and transformer stations. The Ashlu project would be built for far more transmission capacity - with larger transformers, larger powerlines, and larger switching facilities."

Our Response
Since the Ashlu and Mamquam Projects are of similar electricity generation size, the Ashlu Project's powerhouse, switchyard and transformers will also be of similar size.

Mamquam River Powerhouse

USVCG Concern #10
"Common in this type of construction is the use of carbon steel pipe. The rust never sleeps."

Our Response
The Ashlu Project will have an underground tunnel in solid granite, which does not rust. There will be a short, 300 metre long length of pipeline at the end of the tunnel to convey the water to the powerhouse. Since the pipeline will remain full of water, there will be no air in the pipe and rust won't be able to develop inside the pipe. A rustproof epoxy coating will be applied to the outside of the pipe to prevent surface rust from developing. Once construction is complete, all leftover construction materials will be cleared away.

USVCG Concern #11
This is a recent picture of unknown goop oozing from the abandoned Brandywine BC Ledcor project. This is seeping into the ponds and small tributaries and back into Brandywine Creek. This is the moment in time to save the Ashlu and Sigurd from destruction.

Our Response
Environmental scientists have confirmed that this is either a result of natural vegetation decomposition, which occurs when leaves and other organic materials decompose, or a naturally occurring high level of iron minerals in the local soil and rocks, or a combination of both. Typically, seeps like this are visible in soil excavations in the spring when the ground is wet from snowmelt and runoff, or in areas near swamps or pond water.

The only places where oils, in any form, are used in hydro projects are in mechanical and electrical equipment, which are located inside the intake and powerhouse. These are confined areas that have strict environmental monitoring and operation guidelines in place.

USVCG Concern #12
"These rocks are stained by the material coming out of the Brandywine river powerhouse."

Our Response
The stain on the rocks is due to the high, natural iron content in the water at Brandywine Creek. Iron staining can be viewed on rocks anywhere along the length of the creek (hence the name "Brandywine Creek").

Graphic used on USVCG website

USVCG Concern #13
"Looking upstream at the Rutherford Creek powerhouse near Whistler and Pemberton BC. The building is 4 stories high. The proposed Ashlu powerhouse would service a project 60% larger than this one."

Our Response
As the Ashlu and Rutherford Projects are of similar generation capacity, the Ashlu powerhouse will be a similar size to the Rutherford project, but lower and a little longer due to the different type of turbine/generator equipment used.

USVCG Concern #14
"The rust flowing from the Rutherford Creek project impacts our environment."

Our Response
The photograph shows mud, dirt and some rust that was cleaned out of the Rutherford Project's pipeline just prior to filling it with water for start-up testing. The water was trapped, tested, treated and found to be OK before releasing it back into the creek. Also, the water was purposely released back into the creek during spring run-off when the stream was naturally full of silt and sand. A Fisheries and Oceans Canada representative, along with the project's Environmental Monitor, were both at the site during the start up and commissioning of the project. Now that the project is up and running the water coming from the pipe is clean.

Outflow from Rutherford Creek Powerhouse

USVCG Concern #15
"These are the types of powerlines which run between water intakes and the powerhouses. The proposed Ashlu project would have many kilometres of this type of wiring visible up and down mountainsides and across fish spawning and grizzly bear habitat."

Our Response
There are no exposed power lines between the intake and the powerhouse on the Ashlu Project, as electricity to the intake will be transmitted through an underground cable. The only power line will extend 2.5 km from the powerhouse to the existing BC Hydro transmission line, and will not extend down the Ashlu canyon and across the Squamish estuary. The power line will generally not be visible from the Upper Squamish Valley since it will follow the existing Forest Service Road and will tie into the existing BC Hydropower line.