Canadian tribe opposes proposed powerline project in US
CONCORD, N.H. — Supporters of a controversial project that would bring Canadian hydro power to markets in southern New England like to talk about how this would use much cleaner energy than the coal-fired power plants that once dominated the region.
But don’t tell that to members of a Canadian tribe, whose traditional territory is dotted with some the dams, reservoirs and power stations that would provide the energy. Rather than green energy, they contend the infrastructure built by Hydro Quebec for power that will go through the proposed Northern Pass project has decimated a salmon fishery they depend on and harmed their traditional hunting grounds.
The Pessamit Innu took their case Thursday to New Hampshire’s Site Evaluation Committee, which is hearing public comment on the project and later this year will vote on whether to approve it. Plans call for building a 192-mile transmission line in New Hampshire — from Pittsburg to Deerfield — carrying enough Hydro-Quebec energy to southern New England markets to power about 1.1 million homes.
“This salmon is currently on the verge of extinction,” said Pessamit Innu Chief René Simon in a statement read during the hearing. The tribe contends the annual salmon catch has fallen from more than 1,100 in1948 to less than 100 last year.