B.C.’s Site C dam project behind schedule, plagued by problems: expert
British Columbia’s mammoth Site C hydro-electric project is seriously behind schedule, plagued by quality problems and marked by secrecy, says an assessment by an international dam expert.
E. Harvey Elwin — hired by a First Nation asking for a court injunction to aspects of the dam’s construction — expresses concern about work at the job site in his 196-page report citing internal BC Hydro and government documents, many of them previously confidential.
“In my opinion, it is the sign of a large performance problem with the (main) contractor meeting the requirements of the specifications and quality of work,” he wrote in the report filed Wednesday in B.C. Supreme Court.
In a letter accompanying a progress report to the B.C. Utilities Commission dated July 11, BC Hydro president Chris O’Riley said the project remains “on time and within budget.”