Breaching the Peace: The Site C Dam and a Valley’s Stand against Big Hydro

by Sarah Cox, Alex Neve (Foreword)

Breaching the Peace tells the story of the ordinary citizens who are standing up to the most expensive megaproject in BC history and the government-sanctioned bullying that has propelled it forward. Starting in 2013, journalist Sarah Cox travelled to the Peace River Valley to talk to locals about the Site C dam and BC Hydro’s claim that the clean energy project was urgently needed. She found farmers, First Nations, and scientists caught up in a modern-day David-and-Goliath battle to save the valley, their farms, and traditional lands from wholesale destruction. Told in frank and moving prose, their stories stand as a much-needed cautionary tale at a time when concerns about global warming have helped justify a renaissance of environmentally irresponsible hydro megaprojects around the world.

Genres: Nonfiction

321 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2018

About the author

Sarah Cox is a Canadian journalist who specializes in energy and environmental issues. As of March 2021, she writes for The Narwhal, a Canadian non-profit magazine dedicated to investigative journalism about Canada's natural world.

Reviews

[Lancakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was way more interesting and engaging than I expected it to be! Because this is the kind of stuff I'd study for school, I assumed reading this book would feel like school. But the writing and reporting was engaging and thorough and if policy doesn't float your boat there's bound to be at least one in depth and well researched chapter on something you care about.


Food scarcity, security and sovereignty? The Peace has excellent, world class farmland slotted to be flooded. 


Global warming/Climate change freak you out? The Peace might be a more viable and local food source once the droughts in California affect its agriculture. Also, the Peace hosts many species at the outset of their range - such specimens provide valuable scientific insight to how species may adapt to climate change. Rich, >1m deep top soil with a rare and fertile composition - an increasingly scarce asset globally due to soil erosion - will be inundated and washed away in a reservoir. Endangered species - including eagles and local trout, are at risk of further habitat destruction. 


If human rights are more your jam, there's plenty of adverse effects in your wheelhouse: the appropriation of farmland, arbitrary litigation to infringe and constrain free speech, environmental racism, the flooding of First Nations burial sites, a higher incidence of sexual assault of First Nations women (when rural male-dominated industry - or man camps - crop up, assault rates skyrocket). Plus mercury poisoning and its cultural impacts, the violation of treaties, the shady coziness of BC Hydro and government where permits are concerned. The intro even details the expansion of dam development projects as a global neoliberal project. 


Overall, an unbelievably thorough, and still somehow enjoyable to read, analysis of this 50+ year long story. The fact that this book is able to look at this story from so many diverse angles just demonstrates how far-reaching the effects of this project are.


On a personal note, I don't understand this "point of no return" politically and/or practically. Why is it politically viable to admit that your idea is shitty and you're going to see it through. I don't see the practicality of sinking billions of dollars into a project with an indefinitely growing cost, whose final product is not needed and will therefore be sold on the market at a loss. Additionally, selling the product will involve investment in infrastructure that may or may not be harmful but will certainly entail a further commitment to an energy model that we should desperately be discouraging. Cutting your losses and admitting a mistake and reinvesting seems more practical, and like a stronger political message. Pay local First Nations to employ Indigenous knowledge to rehab the area already destroyed for the Site C dam. Pivot to smaller, more localised energy production that requires smaller capacity and output, which also means less transportation. Use these initiatives as a way to create jobs and training opportunities in local communities.

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing. I cannot recommend it enough if you are interested in hydropower, farming, indigenous rights, our environment, or the horrible corruption between government and corporations (BC Hydro). Even if you just like a moving story about things that are happening now.

I wish there was more.

[Kate Rayner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated how Cox combines first-hand stories from those living near/on the Peace River with historic chapters describing the politics surrounding the project.
I read for a university class and had the pleasure of speaking with the author during one of our classes. She is continuing to stay updated on the project and remains a strong ally and voice for the people.
I recommend this book to those interested in an easy-to-follow case study on a dam project in Canada as the author covers the social, economic, political and historical aspects of the project.

[Clivemichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intimate portrait of a travesty in motion, a boondoggle beyond comprehension. A gentle indictment and dissection of corrupt and misguided efforts by elected and corporate representatives. A sad statement on priorities of those with power and influence.