Akaitcho leaders greenlight Taltson expansion project

Akaitcho leaders in the Northwest Territories are moving forward with plans to expand the Taltson hydro dam north of Fort Smith.

At their general assembly last week in Fort Resolution, the chiefs of Dettah, Ndilo and Deninu Kue voted to sign a memorandum of intent for the $300-million project,located 300 kilometres south of Yellowknife.

The Taltson dam currently services the communities of Hay River, Fort Resolution and Enterprise. Itwas originally built to power the Pine Point Mine, which closed in 1988.

"We're really starving for development to happen around us," said Deninu Kue Chief Robert Sayine of Fort Resolution, who speaks for Akaitcho communities excluding Lutsel K'e.

"We have no means of development around us for the last 20 years, since Pine Point left, so we're really starving for development to happen around us."

The projectwould expand the dam's capacity andsend the power it generatesto diamond mines via transmission linesrunning through Akaitcho territory.

Currently, diamond minesoperated byBHP Billiton and Diavik operate on diesel power, but the shorter winter trucking seasons have reducedthe window fordelivering fuel to the sites.

Both the Akaitcho Dene Nation and the government of the Northwest Territories, which has budgeted$1 millionto prepare for the expansion, hope the diamond mines will choose to use hydro-electric power over trucked-in diesel fuel.

While details related to profit-sharing, the purchase of additional power and the location of the power lines still need to be determined, Sayine says the Taltson dam is "one of the good business opportunities to get into."

Lutsel K'e, a Chipewyan community of 400 east of Yellowknife, is the only Akaitcho community to oppose the Taltson expansion. The band is worried the proposalwill violate an agreement it hasto develop a power project with another company.

While consultations between Lutsel K'e and the other Akaitcho communities continue, it remains unknown whether the diamond mines will sign on.