Williams willing to risk Gros Morne's UNESCO status

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams says he is willing to risk losing Gros Morne National Park's UNESCO world heritage status if the cost of preserving it is too high.  

At issue is the government's plan to build 40-meter high transmission towers through the park located in western Newfoundland to bring power from the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project to the island.

Opponents of the plan say Gros Morne could lose its designation as a World Heritage Site, because UNESCO removed a similar designation from a site in Germany after the construction of a four-lane bridge.  

Williams says he would prefer not to do have the line go through the park, but going around it could add more than $100 million to the cost of the project.

"We can't just start carving out those kinds of dollars … without even have a proper costing. It's wrong to oversimplify it, but if it meant putting it into health care as opposed to putting it into UNESCO, I would put it into health care, he said.

"It's not as simple as that, but we do have to strike that balance. It's not a small amount of money. It is a significant amount of money."

Nalcor, the province's energy corporation which is spearheading the Lower Churchill project, issued a statement Monday saying it wouldn't do anything to compromise the park's UNESCO status.  

However, the final call on the project rests with the premier and the cabinet.

Officials with Gros Morne have already said they're against Nalcor's proposal.