Smelter raises more pipeline questions

They say good things come in threes, but the reverse can also ring true. In the past several weeks, three developments have emerged that could spell trouble for the GSX, a natural gas pipeline to Vancouver Island that has been proposed by BC Hydro and U.S.-based Williams Ltd.

On November 15, B.C. premier Ujjal Dosanjh and Port Alberni MLA Gerard Janssen announced that a $47,500 government grant would go towards a feasibility study for a $1.4-billion (U.S.) smelter, to be built in Port Alberni by KTD Technology of Spokane, Washington. What was left out of the announcement, however, was how much the feasibility study will cost in total ($1.2 million–$300,000 of which is coming from the Port Authority, $300,000 from the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, and $200,000 from Port Alberni itself), and any real discussion of how the smelter would be powered. Aluminum smelters consume huge quantities of power, and the Port Alberni plant would be no different, reportedly requiring up to 900 megawatts (MW) of electricity–nearly the equivalent of the output of BC Hydro's Burrard Thermal generating plant, or the entire electrical demand of the city of Victoria.

Opponents to the GSX pipeline say it's clear that the government hopes to meet the smelter's incredible need for power with electricity created by burning natural gas brought to the Island by the GSX. The only problem, they argue, with that is that even the GSX wouldn't be able to satisfy a smelter. "The smelter makes no sense, says Arthur Caldicott, the spokesman for the GSX Coalition, a citizens' group that's opposed to the pipeline. "Hydro justifies the GSX pipeline on the basis of it being absolutely necessary to meet the Island's current energy growth. Yet this one project would take up most of the GSX gas, leaving almost nothing for growth. It makes us wonder whether Hydro's projections for Vancouver Island's energy needs are for real."

A further problem is that the smelter is slated to be built on land claimed by the Hupacaseth First Nation band–which led its chief to walk out of Dosanjh's news conference in disgust. "I was just there to get information," says chief Judith Sayers. "Our views haven't changed, we are still opposed, but we are willing to listen. But I didn't want to be a part of the lie that we were there because we supported the project. I see this as potentially impacting many things, including our right to fish."

On November 6, the GSX Coalition broke the secrecy surrounding Hydro's gas plans to build a 260 MW gas-powered generating station in Port Alberni. Unlike a previous proposal for a "cogeneration" power plant, which fell through when Hydro failed to reach a deal with proponents ATCO and PanCanadian, the new plant would not supply steam to the Pacifica Papers mill in Port Alberni. Hydro has since promised that–unlike a cogeneration plant recently built in Campbell River–the project will include pollution controls. But it must go through an environmental assessment, and its lack of cogeneration efficiency could lower its chances of approval.

The Campbell River plant is not without its problems, either. The plant is currently being tested under a temporary emissions permit, and when the final permit is posted in early December, a 30-day appeal period opens up. With the GSX Coalition and local citizens upset about the potential for air pollution and greenhouse gases being emitted from the plant, another environmental assessment battle may be in the cards for Campbell River.

Stuart Hertzog