The province is asking the Clean Environment Commission (CEC) to hold public hearings on the proposed Bipole III transmission line project, Conservation Minister Dave Chomiak announced.
“Public hearings will provide an opportunity for input from a wide cross-section of the public and other stakeholders,” said Chomiak. “This will ensure the voices of Manitobans are heard during the commission’s review of the project.”
The minister noted the hearings will follow a public review of Manitoba Hydro’s environmental impact statement for the Bipole III project, which was filed yesterday with Manitoba Conservation.
Over the next several weeks, the public will be notified through newspaper advertisements that the environmental impact statement is available for review and comment at public registry locations throughout the province. The environmental impact statement documents will also be posted on the Manitoba Conservation web page, Chomiak said.
The public review period for the environmental impact statement is expected to be 90 days, after which the public hearing schedule and locations will be determined by the Clean Environment Commission. A participant assistance program will be made available to interveners in the public hearings, the minister said, adding details will be made available from the CEC in due course.
Manitoba Hydro prepared its environmental impact statement on a preferred route for the Bipole III project following an extensive public and stakeholder consultation process and following guidelines provided by Manitoba Conservation in June 2010.
Manitoba will also be undertaking a comprehensive a Crown-Aboriginal consultation process for the Bipole III project, Chomiak said.
Information on the environmental impact statement review will be posted on the Manitoba Conservation website when available at www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/eal.
