HYDRO STUDY MEANINGLESS, MISLEADING, SAY RESEARCHERS
The Hudson Bay Research Group (HBWG), at Carleton University disputes claims
made by the Applied Research Group on Macro-Ecology (GRAME), that Quebec's
power generation is cleaner than that of "patronizing" neighbours. The Quebec
group, which received $40,000 from Hydro-Qubec, claims that Quebec's
generating methods are 3 times less polluting than other utilities.
Mick Panesar, researcher with the HBRG, says hydro reservoirs are not clean.
"Hydro causes methylmercury contamination, greenhouse gas emissions, wrecks
the most productive habitats, and causes terrible soil erosion." Dianne
Murray, HBWG coordinator, says Hydro-Quebec's dams aren't any more
environmentally-friendly than other utilities. "Methylmercury contamination
is unavoidable when you build reservoirs in the north." Methylmercury is the
most toxic form of the most toxic heavy metal.
Murray has compiled research connecting the collapse of the Grand Banks
fisheries to the proliferation of dams and reservoirs in eastern Canada.
"Reservoirs are implicated in fisheries collapse all over the world" she
says, "from the Caspian, to Manitoba; from the Nile, to the Columbia". Her
research has uncovered that as early as 1982, oceanographers have connected
eastern Canadian projects like James Bay 1, Nelson-Churchill, and
Manicouagan-Bersimis-Outard with the collapse of Grand Banks fisheries.
Panesar emphasizes that large-scale hydro is an extremely inefficient way to
produce power, because of the huge construction costs.
Reid Cooper, researcher with the Coalition to Preserve Hudson and James Bays
- Ottawa, an umbrella group, calls ARGME's claim to be environmentalists a
sham. "Anyone can claim to be an environmentalist. Bush claimed to be the
'environmental President', while fighting against safeguards", he says. "What
real environmentalist advocates generating unneeded power?". He says ARGME
has been co-opted by Hydro-Quebec. "About the only objective figure ARGME's
presented to the media is their bank balance." ARGME received $40,000 from
Hydro-Quebec for two studies. HBWG advises the public that the only objective
study would be one done by an independant forum, with no connections to hydro
utilities.
Cooper and Panesar say ARGME's findings are misleading, because it is
meaningless to compare damage caused by different generation methods. "It's
difficult to measure. How do you put a price on indirect costs of hydro, such
as species extinction, and increased diabetes?" says Panesar. Panesar and
Cooper say that qualitative differences are poorly measured by absolute
numbers. "Different ways of generating power have qualitatively different
harms. They can't all be reduced to a single measure." says Cooper.
Cooper points out contamination caused by nuclear power and fossil fuels is
of a completely different nature than that caused by hydro projects.
"Radiation, greenhouse gases, methylmercury, and soil erosion are all
harmful. But reducing these harms to arbitrary values tells us nothing - it's
extremely subjective. It has no scientific value."
The group points to Hydro-Quebec's poor track record in conservation and
effeciency methods. Hydro-Quebec lags behind most other public
utilities. "Why didn't they further their research into energy
alternatives, and develop these to their full potential? That sort of
hard information could help Quebecers decide if the extra energy
is worth the damage."
-30-
Contact:
OPIRG-Carleton, Hudson Bay Working Group: wcsbeau@ccs.carleton.ca
Coalition to Preserve Hudson & James Bay: (613) 788-2757.