The construction site of the hydroelectric facility at Muskrat Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador is seen on Tuesday, July 14, 2015. The project was halted by protesters who feared the potential for mercury contamination.Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball is to meet with indigenous leaders Tuesday in an effort to get the problem-plagued Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project back on track, after work was halted by protesters raising the alarm over the potential for mercury contamination.
Provincially owned Nalcor Energy halted work – delaying the planned commencement of flooding – after protesters stormed the site. Nalcor president Stan Marshall issued a statement Monday saying 50 activists had entered the construction zone on the weekend, prompting the company to order nearly 700 workers off the site.
Innu and Inuit communities are demanding the federal and provincial governments step in and force Nalcor to remove more vegetation – and even topsoil – from the area that will be flooded in order to reduce the amount of methylmercury that would be released from decomposing organic material.
Mr. Marshall was brought in to replace long-serving Nalcor CEO Ed Martin in April as the provincial government faced criticism over scheduling delays and cost overruns at the $11-billion hydroelectric project that will supply power to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia via undersea transmission lines.
Nalcor and its partner, Halifax-based Emera Inc., tout the Muskrat Falls project as an important source of non-greenhouse gas-emitting electricity at a time when Ottawa and the provinces are attempting to drive down those emissions to meet international climate commitments.
Nalcor vice-president Gilbert Bennett confirmed last week that mercury levels in fish would rise as a result of the flooding, and acknowledged that local communities may have to reduce the amount of fish they eat. Three hunger-striking protesters arrived in Ottawa on the weekend, and vowed to continue their action until the federal government intervenes to protect their communities.
However, the federal Liberals are attempting to stay clear of the controversy, saying they expect the Newfoundland government to protect its people.
A study by a team at Harvard University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences warned last year that mercury levels in the food chain would be much higher than Nalcor had estimated. Harvard professor Elsie Sunderland has consulted with the indigenous communities for several years as she and her team carried out the research, and recommended they insist on greater clearing of vegetation and more robust monitoring than the utility had planned.
However, Nalcor insists its experts have warned that clearing vegetation and topsoil from a 41-square-kilometre site could have serious environmental consequences itself, including leaving the resulting reservoir in poor shape to support fish life.
On Friday, the province's Environment Minister, Perry Trimper, fired off a letter to Harvard University's president Drew Faust complaining about Dr. Sunderland's role in the controversy and suggesting she had provoked opposition to the Muskrat Falls project. Mr. Trimper had earlier suggested the Harvard professor had agreed to participate in monitoring the impacts of flooding.
Harvard spokesman Paul Karoff said on Monday that Dr. Sunderland had never agreed to do that work, saying that, as a scientist, that is not the type of activity she engages in.
With a report from The Canadian Press