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<pwlegood@sfu.ca><gfulton@boughton.ca>3/17/2006 4:09:57 PMBCUC Hearing - Sea Breeze and BCTC

RE: BCTC - VITR, Sea Breeze - VIC Hearing before the BC Utilities CommissionRequest for Intervenor Status - Phil Le Good

Dear Mr. Fulton

I don't know whether you are aware of this, but many White Rock residentsare nervously anticipating the decision of the current hearing you areinvolved in regarding BCTC VITR application to the BC Utilities Corporation.

Not that we wish to see something imposing, "unhealthy" or negativelyimpactful on our fellow neighbours across the bay from us in Tsawwassen .

Most residents in the White Rock area were unaware of Sea Breeze's proposalbeing attached to the BCTC application. Our local media, our newly electedcouncil nor the proponent were not very helpful in letting citizens know oftheir rights to intervene or even show up at a community meeting. Nor wasSea Breeze very forthcoming in information requested by citizens in a few

.public meetings (they just didn't seem to have the answers residents wantedanswered).

In addition, the route Sea Breeze proposed was changed a Jew times aftertheir "public consultation" meeting.

'I have read the 'Woodford' letter Sea Breeze put into evidence at thehearing as Exhibit C31-13. Woodford refers to the Basslink HVDC project inTasmania near George Town.

I have also researched the locations and corridors of the Neptune RTS HVDCproject from Sayreville. New Jersey to Long Island, New York.

These two references to HVDC projects differ greatly from the Sea Breezeproposal.

I am hoping that my research could be entered into the records of thehearing since Sea Breeze has entered relevant exhibits that should beresponded to.

I am hoping that I could be listed as an intervenor in this hearing. Irealize that my request is quite late into the proceedings but I alsorealize that others have been granted this privilege. I am hoping that thisis possible and if it is not, how does one ensure that claims by asignificant party of the hearing are countered or at least informationentered that expand upon the evidence before the panels and commissioners.

I am attaching my letter I am hoping can go on record at this hearing and amhoping that it can be entered as an exhibit.

I thank you for the time you've taken to consider this.

E-200

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Sincerely,

Phil Le Good1507 Vidal AvenueWhite Rock, BCV4B3T6604-535-9009

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Recently, in the Peace Arch News, an article regarding Sea Breeze's proposal to installhigh voltage direct current (HYDe) cables under residential streets in White Rock waswritten. The article referred to a letter received by a White Rock resident from a :representative of Electranix Corporation regarding various aspects of HYDe technology.

The author of the letter used, as an example, the case ofa buried HVDC cable nearGeorge Town, Tasmania. The cable installed in Tasmania was part of the Basslinkproject.

Is the example of the HYDC cable near George Town similar to White Rock? Is theTasmanian beach referred to similar to White Rock's beach? Does the Tasmanian beachhave as many tourists and locals visiting the beach as White Rock? How close to GeorgeTown, Tasmania does the line run, does it run under residential streets and how manypeople are affected by the Basslink HYDC cable project.

In the example given by Sea Breeze Pacific RTS in their materials presented to WhiteRock's residents and on their website, the Neptune RTS New Jersey (Sayerville) to LongIsland (Jones Beach-New Cassel), similar to their proposed HYDC project in WhiteRock?

Sea Breeze stated in their power point slide that,

"This line in the very populated New York area has had no public opposition."

After considerable research, the following information was pieced together to create aphysical picture of the two cases cited by Sea Breeze RTS and the president of Electra nixCorporation.

Both the Tasmanian and the NJ-Long Island cable and/or overhead transmission corridorshave low to very low population densities and both do not physically impact on anyresidential areas. In both cases, the buried or overhead HYDC cable(s) were not or willnot be placed in or above residential streets and are afforded similar right-of-ways (ROW)as one would legitimately expect for an overhead major electrical transmission corridor.

In the case of the Neptune RTS New Jersey- Long Island HYDC:

The HVDC cable in New Jersey begins a good distance away from any residential area ofNew Jersey (Sayreville). The line will originate from an established AC electricalsubstation (Jersey Central Power and Light) in an industrial area on the banks of theRaritan River and will follow the Raritan River in a "micro-tunnel" onto the ocean bed ofRaritan Bay across the Atlantic Ocean to Long Island (Jones Beach-Wantagh State Park).

Neptune RTS Long Island route from Jones Beach to New Cassel (hamlet of Hempstead,New York) follows the Wantagh State Parkway corridor. The cable(s) will be buried onthe opposite side of the Jones Bay, Wantagh State Park peninsula, again, a good distance

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from the public beach area.

The cable will then travel along the Wantagh State Parkway through wetlands and forest.The "Parkway" is a highway and, in some places, is up to six lanes wide with a centremedian. The Wantagh highway corridor is similar in width to our Highway 99 corridorand is well treed and park-like. The HYDC cable's proximity to residential developmentsalong the Wantagh State Parkway is similar or greater in distance as are the residentialdevelopments along the Highway 99 corridor in the South Surrey/White Rock area. Thismeans that the buried cable is situated well away from residences.

The Neptune RTS HYDC cable will then travel and terminate to an industrial park areaon Duffey Avenue in New Cassel, New York, adjacent to Wantagh State Parkway. Thisarea has sprawling warehouse and industrial facilities and a 4-track railway corridor.Residential streets and developments are not involved and the proximity to residentialdwellings and activity is distant.

In the case of George Town, Tasmania, Basslink HVDe Project ...

The author of the letter mentioned in the beginning of this message, Dennis Woodford,indicated that a HYDC line had been placed near George Town, Tasmania. This line isapproximately 13 kms long but only 1.7 kms is underground, the rest (11 kms) isoverhead, hanging from towers. George Town, Tasmania has a population of 4,129people and its population has been in decline since 1981 (pop. 5,592).

From the Woodford letter:

"Last month (December, 2005) I visited such a cable installation entering the sea under abeautiful beach near George Town, Tasmania. The two high voltage dc cables that wererecently installed for the Bass Link project approached the beach buried two metres. Atthe sand dunes a tunnel was drilled underneath them down to the beach, where the cablewas trenched two metres under the beach and under the sea bed. For the portion underthe sand dunes, under the beach and for 100 metres out to sea, the two cables wereencased in steel piping whose walls were over 1 cm thick, each pipe section about 2/3 ofa metre long that fitted end to end, providing some flexibility in movement. Beyond the100 metres, the cable was trenched normally in the sea bed.

On the beach there was no indication that any cable entered the sea, not even a sign. Thesand dunes and sand on the beach and out into the sea appeared undisturbed, and therewas no indication that there was a cable there."

From the Basslink Project Impact Assessment Statement document-Appendix F, StrategicEnvironmental Management Program (EMP), prepared by NRS EnvironmentalConsultants Pty Ltd. They've described the installation the following way:

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,-"...the subsea transmission cable will be laid on the seabed or, in some sections, will beburied. eonsideration will be given to using HDD (horizontal directional drilling) for theTasmanian shore crossing just east of Four Mile Bluff. Alternatively, it will be trenchedthrough a natural break in the dunes, and the transmission cable layed in the trench andbackfilled.

A new transition station south of the British Creek wetland near the Tasmanian coast willconnect the 400 kY HVDC underground transmission cable and fibre optic cable to a 400kY HVDC overhead line.

From the transition station, the 400 kY HYDC overhead line (as in Yictoria) will travelsouthwards, traversing the following main landmarks: Long Plain farmland, a futuresand/gravel quarry site north of Soldiers Settlement Road, Soldiers Settlement Roadfarmland, native vegetation (state forest) and plantations on the eastern slopes ofMtGeorge and Bridport Road plantations,

Approximately 5.5 km southeast of George Town, the 400 kY HVDC overhead line willbe connected to a new converter station. The converter station will convert the 400 kYHYDe to 220 kY HYAC. A 220 kY HY AC overhead line travelling southwesterly willconnect the converter station to the George Town substation on the East Tamar Highway,which will be modified by BPL on behalf of Trans end to accommodate connectionbetween the AC grid and Basslink."

The Basslink HYDC cable originates in Tasmania through sand dunes at the beachhead atFour Mile Bluff which is more than 15kms from George Town. The beach area has littleor no human settlements. The beach is in a wilderness area similar to Long Beach onYancouver Island. According to a map and descriptions included in the NRS consultantsreport, only 4 landowners were directly affected by the entire George Town HYDC cableinstallation. The buried and overhead sections of the HYDC cable installation aresituated a great distance from any concentrated human settlement. From the NRSdocument statement above, the line's corridor either is buried or hung overhead through"farmland", "plantations", "state forest" and "a future sand/gravel quarry site",

The route for the 'George Town' HVDC cable corridor was chosen by the George TownConsultative Committee (GTCC). Its role was to provide direct input to the BasslinkDevelopment Board and National Grid during preparation of the draft Integrated ImpactAssessment Statement. The GTCC members also played a key role in raising communityviews and issues about Basslink. Members of the GTCC included the town council, thechamber of commerce, farmers and graziers, locallandcare groups and the localcommunity.

Gordon Fulton - HVDC-WhiteRockletter.doc

Both of these HVDC electrical transmission corridors are or will be located in areaswhich have the least impact to residential developments and human populations. Bothare in or adjacent to protected corridors (Wantagh State Park and Parkway on Long Islandand the State Forest and farmlands near George Town).

The beach areas in both of these locations are remote from the residential and commerialareas oftheir respective locals. None of these locations remotely resemble the year roundhuman activity that White Rock's beach area experiences. There are no significant retailor commercial activities in either of the two cases referred to by either Mr. Woodford orSea Breeze nor are there any significant nearby residential developments within theircorridors.

Questions remain.

Are there any examples of a major HYDC electrical cable installation in residential andcommercial areas similar to the one being proposed by Sea Breeze? Or is Sea Breeze'sproposal and route unprecedented?

Will the residents of White Rock be afforded the same respect and opportunity tocontribute to an impact statement, or meaningful and legitimate public consulation aswere the residents of George Town, Tasmania.

Has Sea Breeze conducted themselves in an open, honest and transparent manner withWhite Rock residents and the City of White Rock?

Finally, the hamlet of New Cassel in Hempstead, New York, the location of the NeptuneRTS HVDC cable installation, will receive a significant amount of money for a "state-of-the-art community centre from Neptune RTS (US$10 million), as well, the Westburyschool district will also receive funds over a 20 year period from Neptune RTS throughpayments in lieu of taxes (PILOT).

Sea Breeze stated in their public presentations that the Neptune project "had no publicopposition", Was there anything to oppose given the locations: an industrial riversidearea, the Raritan River and Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, an unpopulated highway-parkwaycorridor and an industrial area adjoining the highway-parkway?