Water board re-examines fishing lodge compensation
Carter family argues dam hurt their business, while power corp. disagrees
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Monday, May 29, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The owners of a fishing lodge on Nonacho Lake were once again before the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board last week seeking compensation for damage they say the Northwest Territories Power Corporation has caused to their business.
Philippe de Pizzo, Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board member, left, board chair Mavis Cli-Michaud and board member Elizabeth Wright hear opening remarks from the Carter family and the Northwest Territories Power Corporation on May 16 at the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife. - Kirsten Fenn/NNSL photo |
The Carter family, from Hay River, has run a well-known fishing lodge on the lake 80 km southeast of Lutsel K'e for decades.
They argue NTPC's operation of a hydro dam there has caused environmental damage and hurt their business.
The Carters are seeking compensation under a water licence granted to NTPC in 2012 to continue its operations in the area.
"Over the years the business and the way of life of the Carter family has been damaged and they say it's on account of the ongoing and adverse effects of the dam at Nonacho Lake," said Eleanor Olszewski, the family's lawyer. "The Carters' position is that the adverse effects caused by NTPC's operations have led to a decline in patrons at the lodge."
A reduction in fish stocks and species are hindering their business, the family's lawyer argued, while high concentrations of mercury in fish are causing fisherman to worry whether their catch is safe to eat.
But NTPC disagrees.
Douglas Evanchuk, NTPC's lawyer, argued at last week's re-hearing that NTPC's experts have shown the company's operations have had little to no impact on spawning lake trout over the last 15 years.
As for the issue of mercury, "NTPC's evidence is that no new flooding or release of mercury into the aquatic environment would result, or will result, from the operation of the Taltson facilities or at Nonacho Lake," he said.
Fluctuating water levels and sediment erosion have also been a part of the hearing discussion, Evanchuk said.
Evanchuk disputed the suggestion that water fluctuations in the Taltson hydro system, which includes the Nonacho dam, are caused by NTPC.
Those fluctuations are "virtually always caused by nature," he said.
The Carter family originally requested close to $6 million in compensation when the board was considering NTPC's water license in 2011.
The board awarded the Carters $62,500 but an NWT Supreme Court judge later ruled in 2014 that the family was denied procedural fairness and the board erred in its decision.
It is now re-examining the family's claims for compensation, although it cannot award compensation for past adverse effects.
