Drinking water priority for Wall
Lack of clear cleanup plan for oil spill ‘troubling,’ Opposition says
Premier Brad Wall said the government’s priority is to ensure communities have drinking water in the wake of the Husky oil spill.
“Our No. 1 concern right now is the response. We’ll get into the debate about pipelines versus rail or how we move oil across this country at a later date, but for now I think we should just set it aside,” Wall told media at the legislature on Wednesday morning.
The oil company notified the provincial government on July 21 of a leak in its pipeline 30 kilometres east of Lloydminster, which spilled more than 200,000 litres of oil — the equivalent of two rail cars — into the North Saskatchewan River.
The spill has compromised the water supplies of communities including North Battleford, Prince Albert and Melfort.
In Prince Albert, the city is relying on a storm retention pond until a water pipeline is constructed; there is a $1,400 fine in place for anyone excessively using water.
NDP Leader Trent Wotherspoon agreed with the government’s priority — drinking water — but also criticized Wall’s response to the disaster.
The government should have put “all hands on deck” in the affected communities, he said, but the premier and cabinet are “missing in action.”
Wotherspoon, who was in Prince Albert on Tuesday, said municipal leaders there feel they’re not getting the necessary information.
“They’re finding out about this through the news and through Facebook, instead of from their premier and their provincial government,” said Wotherspoon.
Wall said the government has followed “a process that we’ve used in other disasters. We want to make sure we have the response in place first, and then we’ll get into tours and firsthand looks at the situation.”
Wall had planned to visit North Battleford and Prince Albert on Thursday, but that visit is on hold: The cities’ leaders have “elected to defer this visit at present,” according to an email from a government spokeswoman Wednesday afternoon.
“Both are attending to their individual response efforts, are satisfied with the provincial supports received to-date, and will have the premier in the near future,” the email continued.
“Everyone is focused on the operational side of this response right now.”
The premier said he has been in contact with mayors of the affected communities and the Cumberland House First Nation chief, and has offered them any resources they might need.
“Obviously this is not an optimal situation. It’s a terrible situation, caused by a spill, and the government will be there and so will their neighbours, because that’s what Saskatchewan’s all about,” said Wall.
“The government’s been co-operating with respect to the use of its bladders (water tanks),” added the premier.
“We’ve had a lot of disasters here in the last five years or so, so we’ve got an inventory of equipment that is available to be used.”
Wall acknowledged there had been an impact on businesses such as laundromats and car washes, which have had to suspend their operations.
“Husky has said they are going to be responsible for the financial costs of all of this, and I expect that to be the case,” said Wall. “We think of the big costs and the responsibility for those on the company, in this case Husky.”
Wotherspoon said it’s “awfully troubling” that there is no clear cleanup plan in place.
Wall said the government is “trying to get a handle on” the ecological impact.
“There’s an economic element to it, but it’s our environment, it’s our habitat, and Saskatchewan people put a high priority on it,” said Wall.
“We’ve got to have complete restoration and rehabilitation in terms of habitat
We’ve had a lot of disasters here in the last five years or so, so we’ve got an inventory of equipment that is available to be used.
and the ecology along the North Saskatchewan River.”
Wall, who has been a strong proponent of building new pipelines across North America, was hesitant to answer questions about pipeline safety on Wednesday.
He said that his comments on that subject had obscured the rest of the story on Friday.
“That’s the only part that got coverage, along with some attendant criticism, that, ‘Hey, Wall’s only talking about pipeline safety in the face of this major spill.’ ”
He did say pipeline safety “should be an ongoing process and we’re not going to leave anything off the table as we look at this particular issue in the weeks and months ahead.”