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New developments a boost to Ontario James Bay Cree Hog fuel waiting to enter BC Hydro’s energy mix New developments a boost to Ontario James Bay Cree By Malcolm McColl William Small is Vice President of marketing for Moosonee Transport Limited (MTL), "a marine-based company that originally belonged to Hudson's Bay Company and used to take supplies to the stores along the coast of Hudson and James Bay." MTL was purchased by the Crees of Waskaganish, James Bay Travel, and Rheal Cool in the mid-1980s. New ownership increased trips from 15 to 30 a year on both coasts of James and Hudson Bay. Small was born in Quebec, and lived in Moose Factory for most of his life, a community with the distinction of being the second oldest settlement in Ontario. Small has spent 15 years with MTL and seen the company take new directions with the James Bay Agreement and Peace of the Braves agreements that led to development in Quebec. With Victor Diamond Mine and Five Nations Energy Inc. installing the transmission line into the mine last winter, it’s a big boost to northern companies and communities. "In our business cycle, obviously the summer is our busy month," said Small. "May contains a period of preparation on equiipment. In late May and June we start marine operations, with actual trips in July till the end of October depending on weather. In November the equipment is stored and winter equipment comes out." Joint ventures between the three communities build the winter road and continue community deliveries throughout winter service lasts till April. Mike Metatawabin, Chief of Fort Albany First Nation, is President of Five Nations Energy Inc. (FNEI), an electrical transmission company that delivers power along the west coast of James Bay. The folks owning and operating are Cree on three Reserves on the James Bay west coast. They are the communities of Fort Albany, Kashechewan, and Attawapiskat. Five Nations Energy Inc. is one of the first major endeavors done together. They are located in a remote region of Canada’s northern Ontario, and, like so many First Nation townsites, want the ability to expand. Metatawabin said, "The transmission line company started in 1997. I joined the board as an elected chief in 1998, and became President two years ago. Another project in our area is the Victor Diamond Mine, and another is a fibre optic line for these three communities." Hydro service creates opportunities that never existed before, plus the mining is something new for us." He said, "The diamond mine opening 90 km west of Attawapiskat is the first mine to have an impact in our territory." Attawapiskat will be the ‘last outpost’ in the project to extract 6 million carats of diamonds over 12 years. Metatawabin said, "We are having discussions about later infrastructure and roads. Today we’re instilling harmony and changing for the better." Chief Metatawabin is currently running for Chief Councilor of Nishnawbe-Aski Nation Treaty #9 and the part of Treaty #5 in Ontario. Three communities and others are on a learning curve to understand the overall opportunity underway. These modernizing Mushkegowuk communities maintained a hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the Hudson’s Bay Lowlands long after signing Treaty #9 in 1905-06. Today they are building infrastructure, including transmission lines, and now fibre-optic lines, to increase levels of service and improve medicine and education. Ed Chilton is from Moose Factory, ON. "I went away for 14 years working for an engineering company in southern Ontario, and have been back working in the region for the past 13 years. "We really started back in 1995 including major progress in 1997, and then started developing transmission lines. We faced a lot of challenges, especially before the Electricity Act, Oct. 99." During the construction period there is major employment, "then it’s Maytag repairman time. We have operational maintenence but transmission lines run themselves, with proper maintenence, although spring break-up is particularly menancing." Nature and development intersect, and nature sometimes claims the right of way, but, "Our system is expanding. It runs 270 km through James Bay swampland, which is the main existing line. De Beers Canada is developing a transmission line 100 km inland." Currently a fibre optics installation is being constructed, "They have taken advantage of the 170 km of line from Moosonee to Kashechewan and encorporated savings because we provide infrastructure up to the point of our substations. We are installing fibre-optics ourselves and leaving points for others to connect communities. It provides a signifiant savings in telecom services," said Chilton. The provincial government is really stepping up and working with the Mushkegowuk tribal council. Chilton recognizes the rapidly evolving nature of these fast growing communities. Services require power to cope with population growth. "We estimated a $150 million savings in diesel alone over 30 years. Diesel isn’t cheap anymore. This infrastructure is small, but key. We are replacing 50 million litres of fuel per year. It would have been brought in by sea, and connection to the transmission system will reduce the load to 13-15 million litres per year for operations (machinery, trucks, standby power, and heating)." Hog fuel waiting to enter BC Hydro’s energy mix By Malcolm McColl Phillippe Batini is Band Manager of Upper Similkameen Indian Band (USIB) and they have entered into an agreement with Compliance Energy Corporation to develop energy infrastructure in southern B.C.. The energy will come out of coal and wood residue, and the project has turned especially ambitious since USIB decided to particpate. The USIB pragmatically accepted the certainty that existing and future developments are going to occur in traditional territories, and, taking this position with Compliance Energy Corp. (CEC), they acquired a seat at the table that permits inside dialogue. They helped set the new directions taken in this energy proposal. USIB has spent three years working with CEC. Batini said, "For us it is an issue in principle that any prospective business wanting to operate in our territory, even projects that we don’t like, will be subject to our influence. It’s not a matter of favouritism. Our purpose is to protect the Aboriginal Rights and Title interests. We want clear lines of communicaton and already have concerns about the way companies enter into the territory without respect," for the immense history and connection to the land that Okanagan people have there. Batini said, "It is true that we didn’t like the idea of the company coming into the region and burning coal to create energy. We realize that many problems already exist with greenhouse gases. The Band contributed our influence to include the use of wood waste in the energy development. This proposal came out of wood waste studies that USIB had conducted in use of biomass. In our forestry program we have encountered a tremendous need to get slash off the forest floor." USIB has been aggravated by other projects taking root in their traditional territory without consultation, to mine coal and recently zeolite, but at least on this project they have a say and potential stake in what happens. Batini said, "Part of the agreement includes more feasibility studies on waste wood management in our territory and forestry operations, plus complimentary consultations about other topics." With the arrival of Mountain Pine Beetle in the Merritt Timber Supply Area, the amount of destroyed forest will soon create an incomprehensible amount of biomass. Wood residue is known in energy jargon as hog fuel, and heat from hog fuel is used to produce high-pressure steam that drives electrical turbines, among its many current applications. Another example of high output of energy from biomass occurs in the pulp and paper industry, by burning ‘pulping liquors’ in boilers to produce high-pressure steam. Steam is passed through a turbine to generate electricity for a pulp mill. USIB took a position in this energy development that includes the ability to exercise Aboriginal Rights and Title interests, environment protections with USIB monitoring, social and economic components that benefit USIB including opportunities to contract and gain employment, and an equity position if the proposal is approved and the project proceeds. Batini said, "We negotiated a role in the development." The capital project went from $100 million to $200 million partly due to cleaner technology. Compliance Energy Corp. consented to go through the environmental review process even though the amount of energy generated is below the amount necessarily scrutinized under provincial environmental practices. Batini acknowledged that other Bands may be opposed, and the town of Princeton has held meetings where opposition was voiced to the coal burning energy plant, however, "there is more environmental damage by damming rivers than by this plant," said Batini. John Tapics, CEO, Compliance Energy Corp., said, "We have operations that include the Basin Coal Mine near Coalmont, B.C., producing thermal coal for the cement industry. And we made the proposal to build a 56 MW power plant in Princeton, B.C., using coal and waste wood to produce energy." He said the project will be commissioned for opening in 2010. "We bid the project into BC Hydro during the 2006 Open Call For Power." They tendered in April 06 and are expecting to hear by the end of this summer whether BC Hydro will award them a power sales agreement, meanwhile Compliance Energy Corp, is committed to developing metallurical coal assets on Vancouver Island. "We are currently exploring a coal deposit with 38.5 tonnes of proven resources of metallurgical coal, high-volatile bituminous A, not anthracite." Compliance Energy Corp. is a BC company trading on the TSX. |
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