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11 Sep, 6 tweets, 5 min read
Damning new story by @BenParfittCCPA. Wonder if NDP regret their move. "The #SiteC Dam’s Radical, Risky Makeover - BC Hydro says it has just discovered new, costly problems for the megaproject. In fact, engineers have known about them for decades." #bcpoli thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/…
@BenParfittCCPA ..So many notable things in this story. Parfitt got a top engineer with serious qualifications in rock mechanics, hydro AND fracking to go on the record and raise doubts about #SiteC's safety & buildability. Anthony Ingraffea, professor emeritus of civil engineering at Cornell
@BenParfittCCPA ..And then Parfitt's article has former CEO of BC Hydro Marc Eliesen saying that the revelations of foundational problems at #SiteC cry out for “an immediate halt” to all work at the project and a sober assessment of whether or not it’s in the public interest to continue" #bcpoli
@BenParfittCCPA ..Even more damning, Eliesen says: "In December 2017, when Premier Horgan decided to continue the construction of #SiteC, he announced a new "project assurance board." The board would provide ‘enhanced oversight’ on costs and schedule..." But...
@BenParfittCCPA ..But Horgan “violated one of the basic principles of arms-length review. He appointed individuals to the board who had a vested interest, incl. John Nunn who was #SiteC’s project engineer, along with Min. of Finance & Min. of Energy officials who'd actively promoted the project”
@BenParfittCCPA David Vardy, former head of Nfld & Labrador’s public utilities board: "with both #MuskratFalls & #SiteC, the prov. govts removed oversight of the dams by independent provincial utilities regulators, leaving public in the dark." Why didn't you restore oversight, @jjhorgan? #bcpoli

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More from @Lidsville

Lindsay Brown Profile picture
24 Aug
Now that serious geotechnical problems have materialized in #SiteC's foundations, as many experts predicted they would, my engineer friend has some questions about dam design given the unstable geology. I think his Qs may help us see why fixing these problems is unlikely. #bcpoli
..With the photos in two #SiteC articles today & a diagram from an article by the dam's own engineers, our engineer's Qs are easy to illustrate now:
1. @TheTyee:
thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/…
2. @VancouverSun: vancouversun.com/business/site-…
3. Canadian Dam Assn nxtbook.com/naylor/CDAQ/CD… #bcpoli
@TheTyee @VancouverSun ..I'll preface the engineer's Qs with some background. The part of #SiteC that's in serious stability trouble, acc. to BC Hydro's own (tardy) July 31 reports, is the only part they've actually built so far: the short end of the L that houses the most critical parts of the dam..
Read 25 tweets
Lindsay Brown Profile picture
15 Aug
In 5 minutes, @sarahcox_bc talking about the #SiteC fiasco on Co-Op Radio #bcpoli

Listen online here coopradio.org/content/listen
@sarahcox_bc .."Expert Harvey Elwin said he had never seen as much secrecy around a dam project in his 50 years of working on dams around the world - including the Three Gorges Dam in China - as he had seen around the #SiteC dam." What does that signal to British Columbians? #bcpoli
@sarahcox_bc Other tidbits from @sarahcox_bc radio interview: If the deadline for the #SiteC river diversion is missed this Sept, that's another $billion down the drain on top of all the other overruns. The diversion tunnels may be finished, but other elements needed for the diversion aren't.
Read 13 tweets
Lindsay Brown Profile picture
1 Aug
This project needs to be abandoned now. Just read this one section alone. This is why we told the NDP #SiteC would go to $20 billion, still remain unsafe, and likely be unfinishable. We don't need the power. Find some guts, stop work now & reassess #bcpoli vancouversun.com/opinion/editor…
Me to engineer: this is not fixable, not for any amount of money.

Engineer:
#SiteC #bcpoli
..The same engineer has further remarks on #SiteC & instability, but first, take a look at this 2013 letter to BC & local govts from Peace resident Arthur Hadland. It's a compendium of everything known about the site's instability. GOV'TS KNEW. #bcpoli prrd.bc.ca/board/agendas/…
Read 17 tweets
Lindsay Brown Profile picture
22 Jul
New photos of #SiteC construction problems from a pilot friend. Such clear photos, taken while banking turns too; nerves of steel! First, huge pile of debris from upstream tributaries up against containment boom; machines constantly removing logs, but making no dent. #bcpoli
Next, #SiteC's north bank, with its twin river diversion tunnels. Entrances L, exits R, but they're too far apart to appear clearly in one shot. Between them, the erosion-covered spot (rusty orange stains from seepage through the shotcrete) where dam will attach to N bank
#bcpoli
Re: previous photos: 1. "Very waterlogged area as can be seen by the orange iron stains. Iron is picked up in gravel seams inside the bank & the area immediately above is a deep seam." Dangerous spot to attach a dam. Water travels thru seams & turns the bank's hard shale to mud.
Read 12 tweets
Lindsay Brown Profile picture
14 May
This photo of the current state of #SiteC seems to have disappeared now (not surprisingly, given that it's a mess), but an engineer friend was looking at it closely and has some remarks about soil/geology. #bcpoli Image
The original photo may have been at this link. Anyway, regardless of source, the engineer has the following questions for @sitecproject and @bchydro, given what we know of the history of geotechnical instability in the Peace River region... #SiteC
@sitecproject @bchydro ..Engineer: "Don't know what to say, looking at this, other than "yikes." That more yellowish material at top could be a layer of what locals in the Peace/Fort St John area have sometimes called 'gumbo', along with some other interbedded material..." 3/x #SiteC Image
Read 21 tweets
Lindsay Brown Profile picture
20 Mar
My trusty energy engineer source is back with some interesting comments on today's disturbing news of a federal bailout of the oil & gas industry. He has some ideas on what Canada should be doing instead: 1/x
#bcpoli #SiteC #LNGCanada #CoastalGasLink #Wetsuweten #ableg #cdnpoli
First, here is the news of Canada's federal bailout of the oil & gas sector in the midst of the #covid19 pandemic, instead of letting the industry sunset & retraining workers & incentivizing alternatives: 2/x theglobeandmail.com/politics/artic… #cdnpoli
Engineer: 'the Canadian oil & gas sector is on its knees. It cannot compete with big global producers, esp with its inferior oil product. Maybe time to use the bailout money to switch to hydrogen & keep people employed in a growing industry, not a dying one we can't compete in..'
Read 21 tweets

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