A second round of public engagement was held at Chestermere Recreation Centre Feb. 29 to allow residents and stakeholders the opportunity to learn more about potential sites for a proposed AltaLink substation to be located in the Chestermere area.
“This is needed to address increased loads in the Strathmore and Balzac areas,” said Mark Johns, director of stakeholder engagement and special initiatives with AltaLink. “It will help ensure the reliability of the electrical system in this area for years to come.”
Consultation on the project began in September 2015, Johns said. A first information session was held in October, followed by one-on-one meetings with stakeholders. Johns said the feedback collected during those sessions led to the elimination of one of the initially proposed sites and the introduction of two new potential locations.
“We did a little work on those and decided they were viable, so they’ve been put on the map so that we can get some further information,” he said. “It’s important for us to really have a robust consultation with a lot of input, because there is a lot about this land that we don’t know from maps.”
According to Johns, engagement opportunities allow agencies and landowners to give AltaLink additional information about land uses in the area and any future plans they might have for their land nearby. This information, he said, wouldn’t be available without public consultation.
“It’s kind of a two-way thing – it gives us a chance to make sure everyone has the information and that they all understand it, and it gives them the opportunity to tell us whatever they need to in terms of concerns or information we might not know,” he said. “We want to hear what people are thinking about these particular sites.”
Some of the concerns raised by residents can be addressed, Johns added. The substation will be designed and built to adhere to noise regulations and visual impact can be softened with the addition of fencing and vegetation. Safety concerns, including fears of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF), will also be dealt with.
“There has been more than 40 years of research into EMF and, thanks to assessments from organizations like Health Canada, we really come to the conclusion that from power lines and substations, EMF is not something that is a real health concern for people,” Johns said. “The levels are well below any guidelines.”
As for any other safety concerns, he said, the substation will be located within a locked fence area – accessible only by qualified workers. The station will also be monitored 24 hours a day.
While Johns said the public consultation is not an opportunity for landowners to vote on their favorite site, the positive and negative aspects of each location will be taken into account. After this latest round of engagement, he said AltaLink will determine a preferred site and one or two alternate sites before filing an application this summer.
“We expect a decision next year, and then we can start construction,” he said. “In the meantime, if there are any new developments or changes that we need to tell people about, we will come back to the area for further engagement.”
