RE: Gacho Kue in line to benefit from HydroelectriIt must be a slow newsday for Will Purcel if he is raising the issue of a hydro project for the diamond mines.
I am beginning to think Purcel is some sort of penny-per-line hack writer because the Taltson River Hydroelectric Project is not a new idea. There is a vast wealth of untapped hydropower at Pine Point and this proposal has been floating around for years.
The Taltson River Project is a really great idea. The primary reason it has not been implimented yet is the protests of the 300-soul Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation .
There is no real environmental issue involved with the Taltson River Hydroelectric Project. All the probems are political. The band councils of the Salt River First Nation and the Deninu Kue First Nation would benefit from the work created work in their region. The major stumbling block is that the hydro poles would have to cross a swaith of territory claimed by the LKDFN.Look on any map: the LKDFN is the only settlement north of Great Slave Lake and the closest settlement to Kennedy Lake. The LKDFN opposes the setting up of hydro poles on their territory for one primary reason: because they have already signed a MOU with another firm to undertake such a project sometime in the future.