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Juicing up Tsawwassen's power lines

They’ve been buzzing overhead in Tsawwassen for a decade. Many current homeowners living next to the new higher voltage transmission lines on the hydro right-of-way may have no idea of the level of turmoil that infrastructure caused when the B.C.
TSAWWASSEN POWER LINES

They’ve been buzzing overhead in Tsawwassen for a decade.

 

Many current homeowners living next to the new higher voltage transmission lines on the hydro right-of-way may have no idea of the level of turmoil that infrastructure caused when the B.C. Transmission Corporation first announced a contentious power boost plan.

The project would see existing 138 kilovolt (kV) power lines replaced with new lines capable of carrying 230 kV. The upgrade along the 3.7-kilometre Tsawwassen segment involved the replacement of 78 wood poles with 20 taller steel towers.

 

 

After years of bitter opposition by residents, including the groups Tsawwassen Residents Against Higher Voltage Overhead Lines (TRAVHOL) and Mothers Against Power Poles (MAPP), the provincial government in the summer of 2008 issued a final blow by saying that work would proceed through the residential right-of-way as originally planned.

“While there is no need to create a panic on existing lines, it is essential that regulations and guidelines be established immediately requiring transmission companies to route new lines to minimize the effect on residences, schools and public gathering areas,” TRAVHOL urged Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh three years earlier.

However, alternatives wouldn’t be pursued and the work commenced in June 2008 in order to service future power needs of Vancouver Island.

 

 

Energy Minister Richard Neufeld at the time released the results of two studies he commissioned that concluded the cost to bury power lines in a method known as horizontal directional drilling was significantly higher than figures quoted by TRAVHOL.

For many months there were protests as well as court action taken by residents, concerned about the potential health impacts of exposure to higher electromagnetic fields (EMF), who tried to block work crews from accessing their properties.  

 

During construction, BCTC said it had to bring in additional security guards to make sure work crews and equipment stayed safe. The transmission corporation claimed there were continued acts of vandalism and workers being threatened by protesters. Residents, however, said they were the ones being harassed and followed by people filming them.

Even after the new lines were installed there were conflicts, including Delta's complaint the Crown corporation wasn't living up to the terms of its environmental certificate by leaving contaminated soil behind.

 

 

Wanting to show that all of South Delta was angered about the power lines, and not just homeowners living on the right-of-way, a community rally was held in May 2008 on the grounds of South Delta Secondary. Over 2,000 attended that event, which was originally to be focused solely on the power line issue but became a larger protest about a multitude of issues impacting Delta.

In the end, the project was completed, although, due to the intense backlash, the government ended up buying over 100 homes from residents on the right-of-way, renovating and putting them back on the market. It didn’t take long for the buy-out program to see all of them eventually resold.

 

In 2011, Jake Moldowan, the realtor in charge of the sales, explained that while buyers had come from all over the Lower Mainland, a large number came from Richmond.

"They felt they were a good, solid home. They were priced at market and some of the homes moved quite quickly while some of the homes, it took three or four of five months to sell. It depended on getting the right buyer at the right time," said Moldowan, a former president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, in an interview at the time.

"All of a sudden we had this influx and sold a number of homes to Richmond people who cashed out with these Mainland China buyers. They came out over a really short window and bought one of our homes."

 

 

The contentious power line project, on another front, played a big role in changing the political landscape of South Delta. In 2009, former city councillor Vicki Huntington was approached by a group of frustrated residents including members of TRAVHOL to run as an independent MLA. They formed a vigorous constituency association which helped the outspoken independent defeat the Liberals in two straight elections, making B.C. history. Huntington decided not to run a third term last year and the Liberals regained the seat with Ian Paton.

 

Last December, American-based Kaiser Permanente released a study which concluded that exposure of pregnant women to non-ionizing radiation from magnetic fields significantly raises the risk of miscarriage. The study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences raised the question of the danger of exposure to electromagnetic fields to the general population.

However, a report commissioned by B.C. Hydro, also released last year, concluded that, overall, various agencies concluded long-term exposure is not known to cause any adverse health effect, including cancer and other illnesses.  Recent research results do not provide new evidence to alter this conclusion, the report states.

“Health Canada and the World Health Organization (WHO) position that EMF isn't linked to adverse health effects hasn't changed, despite ongoing research on the topic. Scientific knowledge in this area is now more extensive than for most chemicals. We continue to monitor research and findings by these organizations to ensure we're providing the most up-to-date information,” Hydro explains on its website.

 

As far as what’s next for the Tsawwassen power lines, a B.C. Hydro spokesperson told the Optimist last week one line is currently operating at 230 kV and has been since the project was commissioned in 2008. The second continues to operate at 138 kV.

Hydro will be able to bump up that second line to 230 kV “when the need is there” but there’s no timetable when it will be increased.