Extension granted on Fortis upgrade?
The efforts of the residents' association, Osoyoos Now, and another registered intervenor, Hans Karow, from the Coalition to Reduce Electropollution (CORE) achieved the postponement of a BC Utilities Commission public hearing.
The BCUC has ordered a postponement of the oral public hearing … in order to allow more time for intervenors to prepare evidence and arrange expert witnes-ses, following the Commission's decision to approve intervenor funding, said Osoyoos Now Secretary/Treasurer Robin Gubby.
The proposed work by FortisBC affects all residents in one way or another. It is important that we all understand the background of the development proposal and what is going to happen, Gubby said.
The hearing, to deal with the proposed Nk'Mip substation and 63 kV tie-in, was scheduled for the morning of Saturday, January 21 at the Senior Centre.
Instead, the B.C. Utilities Commission Panel, comprised of Chair Len Kelsey, Tony Pullman and Lisa O'Hara, heard submis-sions from the public with respect to re-scheduling the formal hearing, issues to be addressed at the hearing, presentation of evidence from other hearings, participant funding and other procedural issues.
Also in attendance were BCUC Senior Electrical Engineer Robert Rerie and Commission Counsel Paul Miller. Represent-ing FortisBC were Co-Counsels Robert McDonnell and David Bennett.
Our principal pur-pose of this pre-hearing conference is to hear submissions that may assist the Commis-sion Panel in determining the issues and timetable for the hearing and to clarify other matters, Kelsey explained.
BCUC Commission Secretary, Robert Pellatt, sent a list of proposed issues for the hearing to all intervenors, interested parties and FortisBC. The list, which mirrored what Osoyoos Now had submitted to the BCUC, included the following:rn- justification for the project;rn- alternative solutions (including transmission and distribution alter-natives);rn- appropriate reliabi-lity levels for the service area;rn- route options;rn- land acquisition and rights of ways;rn- impact on property values;rn- environmental im-pacts;rn- EMF health issuesrn- aesthetics and the impact on town plan.
The conference attracted approximately 40 people, six of whom addressed the Com-mission Panel. The audience included home-owners who are concerned about the proposed transmission lines to be routed along Kingfisher Drive and Highway 3 to tie in to a new east Osoyoos substation.
A proposed reschedule for the hearing included the following 2006 dates: filing of intervenor evidence by Friday, February 3; information requests on intervenor evidence by Friday, February 17; intervenor responses to infor-mation requests by Friday, March 3; and a hearing commencing Saturday, March 11.
Kelsey also noted that the Commission Panel was interested to hear the views of FortisBC and the intervenors with respect to how many expert witnesses they expect to testify. He further advised interve-nors who have common interests to work together to retain expert witnesses who will best represent those views.
Last October, FortisBC held an open house to explain that the reason behind their proposal was to address short- and long-term growth in Osoyoos and the Okanagan region. With construction slated to begin this spring, this controversial project has attracted the attention of many residents who have expressed concerns about loss of property values, the aesthetics of bigger power poles and more wires along the tourist strip of Highway 3, and health concerns about electromagnetic fields.
Intervenors Osoyoos Now President Michael Ryan and CORE's Hans Karow agreed they would jointly seek the following expert wit-nesses to speak at the hearing: a lawyer, a certified appraiser, and three doctors (a physician, an epidemi-ologist and a melatonin expert).
After the conference adjourned, the Osoyoos Times asked Mayor Slater to comment on what was discussed at a recent in-camera meeting between FortisBC and the town.
With three new councillors, we wanted to bring them up to date on the Fortis appli-cations, and because the town owns the land where all these lines are, there were some legal issues we wanted to talk to Fortis about, to see if we have any authority to force them to go underground. There was no new information that was given, Slater explained. He added the town's position on Fortis' application is to insist the Kingfisher Drive and Pioneer Walkway sec-tions go underground.
Michael Ryan said he was pleased with Saturday's conference, and added all the issues raised by Osoyoos Now were identified by the BCUC. He was also pleased that Kelsey directed a number of people to Osoyoos Now and said he hopes for wide participation at the hearing.
We were impressed by the recognition we received and take seriously the responsi-bility that is being placed on our shoulders. We're grateful to the BCUC for providing, for delaying the hearing, and for having this session today, Ryan said.
