REGINA – Construction of a $40 million high-voltage power transmission line from Regina to Saskatoon has been given the go-ahead by Saskatchewan Environment.
Environment minister Lorne Scott announced approval of the SaskPower project under environmental assessment legislation last week.
That didn’t surprise Darrin Qualman of Dundurn, a landowner and vocal opponent of the project.
“I never expected the environment department to stand in the way,” he said.
The 230-kilovolt line will run from the Condie switching station northwest of Regina, along the west side of Last Mountain Lake and northwest to Saskatoon. It will link the Shand Power Station at Estevan to central, northern and western Saskatchewan to provide power in those areas.
Read Also
Farming Smarter receives financial boost from Alberta government for potato research
Farming Smarter near Lethbridge got a boost to its research equipment, thanks to the Alberta government’s increase in funding for research associations.
Construction is scheduled to begin next February.
In granting approval, Scott said SaskPower must hire an independent consultant to identify any environmentally sensitive areas along the line and monitor construction practices.
SaskPower must also bury at least 60-kilometres of farm access lines, Scott said, to reduce risk to migrating birds.
“Ducks Unlimited had concerns in the Allan Hills area and SaskPower has indicated to us they can accommodate Ducks Unlimited’s concerns by moving the line this way and that way,” Scott said. “Also, markers on the lines in the vicinity of Stalwart Marsh should greatly reduce any impacts of potential collisions into the lines by birds.”
Upset landowners
The minister acknowledged landowners who will have to live near the line and farm around its poles will not be happy with his decision.
Qualman said an informal telephone survey of the 240 affected landowners found 75 percent said they will not sign easements.
That means SaskPower will have to expropriate land at both political and financial cost, he said.
“We don’t see why we should obediently turn over our land” when the corporation wouldn’t consider a report by landowners outlining alternatives to the line, Qualman said.
In a letter to premier Roy Romanow, Qualman said SaskPower knows a 150-megawatt conservation program would be cheaper and have less impact on the environment.
Qualman also said compensation of 115 percent of market value for the land the poles will sit on won’t make up for the trouble the poles will cause.
“You can’t irrigate. You can’t sell it for the value it was worth before because nobody wants to live by it. You can’t aerial spray,” he said.
Liberal MLA Harvey McLane, who represents the constituency where most of the line will go, said Arm River residents are worried about the possible threat to their health and about operating farm machinery underneath the lines. He said one mother was told to keep children closer to the house if she was concerned about them being exposed to electromagnetic radiation.
McLane said he is optimistic there is enough time before construction starts for arguments to be made and the government forced to explain its actions.
