Much of the merchantable timber cleared to make way for BC Hydro’s new Northwest Transmission Line (NTL) is not being sold to mills in Northern B.C., such as Burns Lake.
Instead, most of the cleared timber is being burnt, in a controlled burning, roadside along the new transmission line.
The Northwest Transmission Line, a new 344 kilometre, 287 kilovolt transmission line being built between the Skeena substation near Terrace, and a new substation being built near Bob Quinn Lake, is expected to be operational at the end of May.
It is expected the transmission line will provide an interconnection point for industrial growth and clean power projects in Northwest B.C.
To make way for the NTL, B.C. Hydro estimated that 495,000 cubic metres of merchantable timber needed to be cleared on the NTL right-of-way beginning in 2012.
Stumpage invoices received by B.C. Hydro show that roughly 110,000 cubic metres of timber, 22 per cent, have gone to market.
BC Hydro’s Bob Gammer, says it was the contractors responsibility to determine what to do with the cleared material. “The contracts to clear the right of-way were awarded to Nisga’a Nation, or First Nations nominated companies, and it was the contractor’s responsibility to determine how to do the clearing safely and according to their environmental management plan, and how to dispose of the cleared materials,” Gammer said.
Under the contract, the contractors took ownership of the cleared timber, meaning they were free to sell the merchantable timber and receive all the compensation from those sales.
However, market conditions were poor in 2012, when most of the timber was cleared from the right-of-way, and the distances to available markets were too great for the contractors to make money.
Gammer says that the cleared timber was then disposed in a number of safe ways.
“Of the timber and wasted wood that was cleared, in addition to timber sales, some was used for firewood and a small amount was left in place as a habitat for small mammals,” Gammer said, “the remainder could not be left on the right-of-way as it would dry out and become a fire hazard, so controlled burning became the best way to dispose of it and this was allowed under the NTL environmental assessment certificate conditions.”
Gammer says the B.C. Hydro has no doubts that the contractors made their best efforts to get harvested material to market, especially since the contractors took ownership of the materials under their contracts, and stood to benefit the most from the sale of merchantable timber.
“Again, they received all compensation from any timber sales, this means they had a definite interest to get merchantable timber to market,” Gammer said, “B.C. Hydro believes they made their best efforts.”