update_august8_2005.html

TRAHVOL UPDATE: August 8th, 2005

We want to give you an update on recent events and answer some questions about our progress.

BCTC filed their application for the Vancouver Island Transmission Reinforcement Project (VITR) July 7th. Since that time we have been evaluating their proposal and reviewing a great number of issues for rebuttal. There is a great deal of information to analyze and compile.

During this time, many residents of Tsawwassen have filed intervention or interested party status with the B.C. Utilities Commission. We thank you for your participation!

Note: If you received notification from BCUC questioning whether you wanted intervener or interested party status, please reply to BCUC ASAP. If you are aligned with TRAHVOL, then you may wish to change your status to ‘Interested Party’. If you have unique arguments (separate from TRAHVOL) you should remain as an ‘Intervener’.

We wrote a letter of concern to the BC Utilities Commission about the abrupt July 29th deadline for intervention and they granted a "late intervention" deadline of September 16th. This is a small win for us and allows more intervenors or interested parties to register before September 16th.

See the TRAHVOL letter to BCUC, in TRAHVOL Documents

We received a letter from Minister Neufeld July 25^th stating that he did not direct BCTC to remove the overhead line proposal and that we must make our case to the BC Utilities Commission. In other words, the overhead transmission line proposal is still on the table!

See the letter from Richard Neufeld, in TRAHVOL Documents

We are busy preparing our case to go before the Utilities Commission and we expect the process to continue until after Christmas.

IMPORTANT
TRAHVOL Public Information Meeting

South Delta Rec Center
Wednesday Sept. 7^th
7:30 p.m.

All Residents along the Right of Way and TRAVHOL Supporters are encouraged to attend. This is your opportunity to receive more detail, raise your concerns and ask questions. Please encourage as many supporters as possible to attend!

A strong show of support is crucial at this time!

Legal Assistance:
As many of you know, we have requested your financial assistance to continue our fight. Legal support is required in this forum for us to be successful. We have held off taking this step for some time, but are at a point where we need experienced legal counsel to help us through this fight. We want to make it perfectly clear that this fight is far from over and we need to continue to be vigilant against these crown corporation bullies!

It was necessary to contract a lawyer knowledgeable about the commission process for the initial procedure conference that was held August 4th in Vancouver. This conference was to discuss the schedule and the process this application will follow. We are now evaluating the legal expertise required to guide us through the remainder of the hearings.

BCUC Hearing Aug 4:
TRAHVOL requested oral hearings and the commission has committed to hold town hall meetings and perhaps some of the actual BCUC hearings in Tsawwassen as well as other locations. The number of residents attending impressed the commission and we think this made a favourable impression on them! TRAHVOL requested changes to the BCTC proposed timetable to allow us more time to prepare our arguments and the commission has granted some alterations.

The scope of the hearings was addressed to ensure we are not denied a voice on issues we deem critical. All of the other lawyers, except BCTC's, accepted our arguments for alterations. In all, it was reasonably typical for this type of meeting. Go to www.bcuc.com/Proceeding.aspx, click on BCTC – VITR, and click on the document titled “A-6” for details on BCUC’s rulings.

What can you do?
Your strong support is required to continue this battle, both by a show of numbers and by financially contributing to the cause. We are asking all supporters of TRAHVOL to consider making a donation of any size. Costs will include further legal counsel and possibly expert witnesses as required. All donations and expenditures will be accounted for in a professional manner and the public will have access to our records. As you may be aware, we will be applying for “Participant Funding”. If granted by the commission, each registered contributor of amounts over $100. will be eligible for a proportional rebate when the hearings are over.

Please: If you have questions or hear rumours, call us for an official update. We are here to help everyone get through this terrible time and want to ensure everyone's peace of mind and comfort.

The following people are available for answering your questions:
• Jack Bulloch (604) 948-0014
• Cecil Dunn (604) 943-9276 (after August 20th)
• Bernadette Kudzin (604) 948-2720 (after September 2nd)
• Julie Berks (604) 943-7046
• Maureen Broadfoot (604) 943-1656 (after August 17th)

As it is the summer and people may be away, please call one of the other numbers or leave a message and we will return your call as soon as we can.

Thank You For Your Support. We can win this fight!
Your TRAHVOL Steering Committee