Members of a group lobbying against the Heartland Transmission Project are adding to any stress people affected by the proposed powerline are feeling, according to an Altalink vice-president.
The Alberta Utilities Commission’s (AUC) public hearing on the project started exploring potential harmful effects on nearby residents. In particular, the AUC is exploring if electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and stress over the project are harmful, and what forms of illness either might lead to.
The project would see AltaLink and EPCOR run a 500-kilovolt double-circuit powerline along one of two possible stretches — one utilizing the transportation utility corridor east of Edmonton, with the alternate option of running it west, near Morinville and through Sturgeon County.
Under fire from Responsible Electricity Transmission for Alberta (RETA) lawyer Eva Chipiuk, AltaLink representative Darin Watson conceded the process of moving forward with the project has been stressful to residents and everyone else involved.
But he said groups such as RETA have not helped that stress.
“There is information in the domain around this project that is likely adding to their angst,” he said, according to transcripts. “I don’t know whether it would be our information or others’ information or thoughts and processes that they have derived on.”
Watson, an AltaLink vice-president, said it is hard to get a clear message across when there is directly confounding information.
RETA board member John Kristensen said all his group has done is provide information that has not otherwise been offered to the public. RETA is one of 25 interveners set to present at the hearing.
Kristensen believes there will someday be a “cause and effect” link made between EMFs and health. Until then, he would rather minimize the risk by burying the lines.
“If we’re not sure today whether or not high-voltage powerline EMFs cause all of these diseases, why don’t we do the safe thing?” said Kristensen. “If the data eventually shows there actually is no relationship, what’s the worst that can happen?”
Tim le Riche, spokesman for the Heartland Transmission Project, said AltaLink and EPCOR have done due diligence in their research.
“We have to rely on third party expertise … we rely on the expertise of Health Canada and the World Health Organization and those [groups] have reviewed decades of research into EMFs,” he said. “That research has shown that at the distances we are talking about, there’s no undue risk.”
The research RETA will present April 26 and 27 draws on other studies into EMFs and their potential health effects. The hearing is scheduled to run for five weeks.
As well, the negative health effects of stress will be looked at.
le Riche said RETA and anyone else are welcome to put their information forward, which will be subjected to the same scrutiny the project’s information has been.
A separate community hearing is scheduled Wednesday night at the Coast Edmonton East Hotel in Sherwood Park. At 7 p.m., about 16 community presenters will have five minutes each to express their own concern regarding the project. Presenters will also include local councillors and organizations.
Public attendance at the main hearing has not been terribly high during the first week. Running every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. it takes place during working hours for many. Kristensen, who will present Wednesday night, expects more members from the public to attend the community hearing.
