Spring 2008
Namakan Dam Update

As environmental assessment continues on two dams proposed for the Namakan River west of Quetico Provincial Park, an area conservation group is now publicly opposing the project. The Rainy Lake Conservancy, which had previously taken a neutral position regarding Ojibway Power and Energy Group’s plans to build dams at Hay Rapids and High Falls, is now against construction.

“Rainy Lake Conservancy does not believe that the Namakan River should be dammed,” spokesman Paul Anderson said. “In our view, the Namakan is a unique river, one of the few undammed rivers of its size in Ontario…we are not convinced that its wilderness character should be destroyed by weirs, powerhouses, sluiceways, raised water levels, roads, bridges, transmission lines and disturbance of the landscape caused by construction, in return for 9.6 megawatts of hydroelectric power.”

Anderson claims the amount of power to be created and the economic impact anticipated for the local First Nation community do not offset the harms for the project, which may also include interference with the passage of sturgeon along the river.

“The 9.6 megawatts of power will contribute very little to offsetting power required that results from the potential closing of 210 megawatt coal-fired plant in Atikokan,” he said. “We have been told at the hearings that the operation of the dams will provide at most only one or two long term jobs, but that the revenue from the dams will be used to stimulate economic development and create other jobs in the community.” OPEG, a partnership between Chant Construction of Aurora, Ontario and the Lac La Croix First Nation, has been holding public presentations about the project in the area.

Proponents assert the project will have little environmental impact. “As indigenous people we are a Nation that has always lived and survived in a way that is consistent with the harmony of nature,” Lac La Croix First Nation Chief Leon Jourdain said in a statement supporting the project. “We have been taught that we are simply a small piece of the natural environment. As a community, we are committed to ensure that this project maintains a balance of development for our community and harmony with nature.”

OPEG is expected to present its Environmental Assessment Screening report at a public meeting in Fort Frances as soon as this summer. A 60-day mandatory review period will follow the report. If no significant concerns are found, OPEG hopes to begin construction on the project before December 2009. If significant concerns are noted, further, independent assessment would be undertaken by the Ontario provincial government.