THUNDER BAY – Community members got the chance to talk to the team that will be building the $1.2 Billion Waasigan Transmission Line.
An open house was held at the Current River Community Centre on Tuesday evening, following another session in Atikokan on Monday.
A third consultation is taking place at the Kam Community Centre on Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m.
Construction of the 360 kilometre power line is slated to begin towards the end of this year, and Hydro One vice-president Sonny Karunakaran said discussion with the community along the line will continue throughout.
“The engagement and consultation is what helps inform our decision making process. It informs the way we are actually going to execute.
“This will carry on through the construction phases of the works. There's a number of adjustments that we have made to not just our work practices and plans but specifics around listening to landowners and addressing their specific concerns on their property.
“Where viable and possible, we try and make sure that we can accommodate those accordingly,” he said.
“We were told one thing and coming here, it seems like it's a totally different thing on a lot of matters,” said Arnold Romppai, who attended the open house in the hopes of getting clarity about the protection of his livestock.
“We were told that was the contractor's responsibility, we come here and find out that it's not. I'm very concerned about my livestock.
“The danger of the baby calves and cows getting into the construction area where they're failing timber. I feel I haven't been told the right things.”
Romppai said he's more hopeful after attending the open house. "After talking to reps here, it seems like they're willing to work with me from the sounds of it,” he said.
The project's final environment assessment was approved earlier this month. Karunakaran said 6.5 years of work went into that assessment.
“How are we going to protect the environment? How are we going to mitigate the effects associated with this to make sure that we're doing this in an environmentally responsible manner?”
“There's a lot of community outreach, outreach to Indigenous communities, working with a number of project stakeholders and other rights holders.”
Engagement with Indigenous groups in particular been extremely collaborative, Karunakaran said.
“We're very proud to say that we're working with all parties that are being identified under the delegation of duty to consult from the Crown," he said. "Having stated that, we are building this project in conjunction with nine First Nations partners that will have an opportunity to invest in the actual equity of the project."
“Once it's constructed, those communities, along with others, have been highly collaborative throughout the development phase and we look forward to the next phases of building the project in conjunction with them,” he said.
Sam Paul said he had a vague idea of the project, but decided to stop by the open house to learn more.
“They gave me a good picture. They are about to bring the light to a big geographical area,” he said.
Paul said in his opinion, this project will be very good for future development.
Karunakaran estimates the project will create between 350 and 400 jobs.
“There are two phases to the project, the first phase going between Thunder Bay through to Atikokan. We're targeting getting that completed as close to the end of 2025 as possible.
“Beyond that, going from Atikokan and up to Dryden is phase two of the project. That'll be finished by the end of 2027.”
Karunakaran said the line itself will be able to transfer 350 megawatts of power.
“What that means in practical terms, is an expansion of the economy."
