B.C. okays controversial Tsawwassen power line

The B.C. government has approved plans by the B.C. Transmission Corporationto build a controversial new overhead power transmission line in Tsawwassen.

The final approval comes after more than three years of extensive public consultations, two independent studies,input from federal and provincial health organizations and submissions from hundreds of local residents.

Many Tsawwassen residents were concerned about the health effects of the line and wanted the BCTCto bury it underground.

But the government said it would cost too much to bury the lines and that the new overhead system has been designed with strict health and safety measures that exceed guidelines endorsed by the World Health Organization.

The project will see 78 wooden poles that now flank each side of a right of way replaced with a single line of 20 new steel poles.

The government says it's willing to consider buying some of the homes of residents in the right of way to help make room for the line.

Construction will start in June and when completed in October, the new line will supply more than 700,000 customers on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.