Cape Breton's Magazine

Wreck Cove Hydro-Electric Investigation Evelyn Smith of Wreck Cove told us that years ago the old people used to be hearing noises coming from back on the mountain, and they used to say, "Just watch. Some day there will be a train running back there." Actually, a railroad line was once pro? posed and mapped to run all the way to Cape North across the Great Barren' • but some? how that line never went through. Mrs. Smith told us she sometimes wonders whether instead this is what the old people were hearing • that those noises were a forerun? ner of the coming of the Wreck Cove Hvdro-Electric Project. The name itself is not descriptive of the area actually affected. Although the pow? erhouse will be located underground at Wreck Cove-, the project itself will impound water from an area of 83 square miles of the Highlands, opening to human activity the last inaccessible wilderness in Nova Scotia. They will dam Indian Brook, West In? dian Brook and MacMillan's Brook, Wreck Cove River, MacLeod's Brook, the Ingonish River and the headwaters of Cheticamp River. Several large lakes will be formed and they will be linked by canals and tunnels, guiding the water to Surge Lake (7 on the following map', where it will drop to the powerhouse and then follow the tailrace tunnel to the sea. From the powerhouse high tension wires on special towers will carry the power between the mountain and the shore on to Sydney where it will plug into the grid serving the Maritiraes. This will happen for about 2 hours a day, on the average of six days a week. This is called a Peak Demand Station and is not in? tended to put out a steady supply of electricity. A Peak Demand Station is intended to serve in those hours of the day when there is a special demand for power beyond the normal drain, primarily to industry • when noon hour or late afternoon comes and electric stoves, televisions, dish washers and so forth are suddenly all plugged in in the homes. It is at these Peak Times the water will fall from Surge Lake to the powerhouse at Wreck Cove, serving this drain across the province. The Nova Scotia Power Corporation through the firms of {Montreal Engineering (who are handling management) and SNC (Surveyer, Nenniger and Chenevert, the designers and actual investigators) is carrying out investigations into the teasability of the project. The work has included surveying and extensive cutting on private and crown lands for survey lines and marks, helicopter landings, drill sites and pits, widen- CAEB BRETON'S MAGAZINE, NUMBER NINE WRECK COVE, CAPE BRETON, NOVA SCOTIA SECOND CLASS MAIL • REGISTRATION NUMBER 3014