Opponents to Springbank Dam to hand over petitions to Alberta government

SPRINGBANK (660 NEWS) – A social media campaign begins Monday and hundreds of signed petitions against the Springbank Dam project will be handed over to the UCP government.

UCP MLA Miranda Rosin will take the petitions Monday morning at the Redwood Meadows Community Hall.

Opponents of the project say the dam will result in environmental damage to the area, while proponents say the project is necessary to prevent disasters like the 2013 floods.

Karin Hunter is the head of the Springbank Community Association, she believes a different location would be better.

“It causes so much collateral damage along the way and has really no benefits except for Calgary when we can still benefit Calgary (and) all the communities upstream of Calgary with Mclean Creek and protect Calgary’s drinking water supply from the Elbow River.”

Members of the UCP including Transportation Minister Ric McIver and Premier Jason Kenney have given support for the project in the past.

Hunter believes the project is misguided.

“It’s not good enough for the long run. This project, the costs are spiraling out of control, they’re probably triple what they were. Way more costly than the alternative at Mclean Creek at this point.”