Court ruling on dam could affect Daishowa pulp mill plans

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A recent federal court ruling to delay construction of a mega dam project in Saskatchewan until public hearings are held could have the same effects on the Daishowa pulp mill in Northern Alberta.

Accountability of the Federal Environmental Assessment Review Board in Ottawa has come under question after a federal judge ruled Dec. 29 that the Rafferty-Almeda Dam in Saskatchewan cannot be built until the public is satisfied it will not affect the environment.

The federal committee decided earlier against holding a public review of the Daishowa mill because it was deemed to have little environmental impact in Alberta.

The Little Red River Band near Jean D'Or Prairie, Alberta has threatened to ask the federal court of Canada to impose restrictions on the $550-million Daishowa project, currently under construction in Peace River, until a public review is conducted.

Band officials claim they were never made aware of the project until it was already approved by the province and they never got a chance to question the developers because public hearings were never held.

The Lubicon Indians of Little Buffalo, Alberta, located 60kms east of Peace River, are also protesting against the mill because they have never given the developers or province permission to harvest their trees.

Daishowa Canada Ltd. was given access to 25,000 square kilometers of timberland by the province for use in its bleach kraft pulp mill process which environmentalists and native groups say will be dumping Cancer-causing chemicals in the Peace River running downstream near the Little Red River Band 580 kilometers north of Edmonton.

Chief Johnsen Sewepagaham has demanded that public hearings be held similar to the ones conducted in response to protests against the Alberta Pacific pulp mill late last year.

"I am concerned that Alberta Environment and Environment Canada have focused an excessive amount of attention on the Alberta Pacific plant on the Athabasca River when the Daishowa plant will emit a comparable level of pollutants into the Peace River," he said.

Daishowa undertook an environmental impact assessment study but Sewepagaham said public response was never included in the province's decision to allow the mill to be built.

Federal Justice Francis Muldoon ordered Federal Environment Minister Lucien Bouchard to establish a public review of the Rafferty-Alameda dam project by Jan. 30, or the license will be revoked.

Jerome Slavik, lawyer for the Little Red River Band, said papers are being drawn up to have similar action taken against the Daishowa Project.

"The band will be filing an application shortly seeking a court order directing that the federal government undertake an environmental assessment review of the Daishowa project," he said.

In a related note, Bouchard announced this week that stricter controls on pollution caused by pulp mills will be released in spring.

The new regulations will be in response to intense public debate over the cancer-causing dioxin and furan discharges from many pulp mills across Canada.