From TheNorthernSun.com

Locals fight to 'save' Big Falls

23 July 2013 - By Lindsay Briscoe

Two canoes rest at the base of Big Falls, about 30 km northeast of Ear Falls, on Lac Seul First Nation traditional territory. Five locals paddled the canoes from the Trout River bridge last weekend to land at Big Falls and hold a ceremony and feast on July 21 with friends and family. Photo by Lindsay Briscoe

A group of locals and members of Lac Seul First Nation hosted a traditional ceremony and feast over the weekend to show their support to "save" Big Falls from the creation of a hydroelectric dam.

Lac Seul, whose members have used the waterway leading to Big Falls for generations, had been on board with the project but decided to back out after some of its members expressed opposition.

"We were being engaged in a consultation exercise by Horizon Hydro on the development of the project. We had a number of concerns based on changes they were going to make to the waterway. Early on in the project they were going to make it a peaking operation so on a daily basis it would rise and it would fall. For several years they talked to us back and forth and changed the design so that now it's just a run-of-the-river. The water that comes down is the water that flows over. There's no impoundment other than what's necessary to support the water flow over the weir," says Lac Seul economic development manager Chris Angeconeb.

He says the company offered Lac Seul, along with Grassy Narrows and Wabauskang, the opportunity to hold a 50 per cent partnership on the project which he says would have required minimal investment on the part of Lac Seul. Just as the negotiations were coming to a close, some Lac Seul members approached the chiefs of the three First Nations by letter stating the project would interfere with a culturally and historically significant site - something Angeconeb says council could not ignore.

"Rather than get into the continued business negotiations with Horizon Hydro, the chief and council opted to withdraw the support that we'd been showing them. We're now in a position where we're back to not supporting the hydro project."

Photo by Lindsay Briscoe

The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) says between 2006 and now, consultations have taken place including the posting of the Environmental Assessment Notice of Commencement, several meetings with potentially affected First nations, open houses and two formal comment periods which lasted 30 days each. The MNR says if outstanding concerns remain after that, the notice of completion provides an opportunity for a Part II Order request to be submitted to the Ministry of Environment.

"O(Ontario)MNR, as one agency responsible for reviewing the project, has a mandate to ensure that the project is planned, designed and implemented to have the least impact on natural and cultural heritage, and to have benefits to the local, regional and provincial economy. Furthermore, the Ministry of Natural Resources is committed to upholding the honour of the Crown, fulfilling the duty to consult, and supporting First Nations' meaningful involvement and economic participation in sustainable resource developments," representatives from the MNR said in an e-mail. "The Crown continues to engage with potentially affected First Nations in the project area to identify potential impacts of the project and develop approaches, in concert with the proponent, to adequately and reasonably accommodate those impacts."

Horizon Hydro's Karen McGhee says up to $1.3 million would be spent locally in connection with the $17 million project over the 12-18 month construction period running from 2014 through mid 2015. She says the plan is to include the creation of spawning beds both upstream (for walleye) and downstream (for walleye and whitefish) of the facility and an extensive 10 monitoring program. The project is expected to generate three to five megawatts to be fed back into the provincial hydro grid.

When asked whether or not Lac Seul's opposition has the potential to stop the project, Angeconeb said he isn't sure. Horizon Hydro, when asked the same question, did not respond by the time of press.