Regina 鈥� Drinking water is the number one priority, according to Premier Brad Wall, who spoke at length on July 27 about the Husky oil spill on the North Saskatchewan River.
That spill became evident the morning of July 21, after monitoring systems detected anomalies the evening before. (See related story Page A3)
Wall spoke to reporters at the Legislature in Regina. His intended visit to North Battleford and Prince Albert was put off until later as the administrations of those cities were tied up with dealing directly with the spill.
Wall said he鈥檚 been in contact with mayors and a First Nations Chief at Cumberland House, asking what resources they need.
鈥淗usky has said they are going to be responsible for the financial costs of all this, and I expect that to be the case,鈥� he said, pointing out that in some cases, businesses like car washes and laundromats in Prince Albert have had to shut down operations.
He reiterated that his initial response, when the leak was first made public, was 鈥淥ur concern should be the response.鈥�
鈥淚n this case, we need make sure that drinking water is available, that potable water is available to communities.鈥�
He took umbrage to media coverage on July 22, which focused on his follow up comments on pipeline safety and not his statements on drinking water.
鈥淥ur number one concern right now is the response. We鈥檒l get into the debate about pipelines versus rail or about how we move oil across this country at a later date. But for now, I think we should just set it aside.鈥�
Asked about ecological damage, he said, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we鈥檙e trying to get a handle on. The first duty of government and Husky and the municipalities is to respond, to make sure people have potable water. We have a lot of folks in the RM of P.A. who don鈥檛 have water.鈥�
Husky has offered to provide potable water, Wall said, in cooperation with the government and municipalities. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 got to be the first, immediate response for all of us, but you bet we鈥檒l need to get a handle on what the ecological impact is on that river.
鈥淪askatchewan鈥檚 waters, our lakes and our rivers, our habit is precious to all of us. There鈥檚 an economic element to it, but it鈥檚 our environment. It鈥檚 our habitat, and Saskatchewan people put a high priority on it. So we need to determine the long term ecological impact to the extent there is one, and the best way to clean it up.鈥�
Government agencies are tapping into 鈥渨orldwide experience鈥� to deal it. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to have complete restoration and rehabilitation in terms of habitat and ecology along the North Saskatchewan River,鈥� Wall said.聽
Asked about the speed and effectiveness of Husky鈥檚 response, Wall said, 鈥淭here鈥檚 been a spill, and people are without water in Saskatchewan. No, I鈥檓 not satisfied. I don鈥檛 think anyone should be. I don鈥檛 think Husky鈥檚 satisfied. They better not be. We need to find out all of the details around the situation. They鈥檝e indicated they want to find out the details. As you know, they want to find out all the details. We have a pretty rigorous process in place. I want to share with you that in the last budget, we took away duties from those pipeline inspecting so they could focus on inspections. We have 24 in the field and three in Regina whose focus is just inspections.鈥�
He noted companies like Husky drive the line and use 鈥渟mart pigs鈥� to monitor pipelines.
Wall thinks Husky鈥檚 taking financial responsibility was the right step to take.
鈥淗usky bears the responsibility here financially, in terms of response, they鈥檝e indicated a willingness to take that responsibility and we accept that position,鈥� he said.
Setting aside the 14 hours it took from initial indications there was a problem to shutting down the line, Wall said, 鈥淥nce the leak was known, their actual physical response to the issue, cooperating with government, cooperating with municipalities, I can鈥檛 put my finger on some egregious error or misjudgement that I would say they鈥檝e made, or that officials are telling me they made. Now, we鈥檙e going to wait and go through, after the fact, the response from all agencies.鈥�
Wall鈥檚 office reached out to the highest levels of Husky management to ensure they, in turn, reached out to mayors.
The Saskatchewan Water Security Agency is unable to give an estimate, through no fault of their own, to give a more accurate estimation of how long interim measures for potable water will be needed, he explained, added that measures taken by some municipalities have a 鈥渟helf life,鈥� as reservoirs will empty.
Wall promised those affected will have the support of the province. Due to a number of disasters in recent years, the province has an inventory of water storage bladders and pumps that can be used.
Asked for a message to those affected, Wall responded, 鈥淭his is not an optimal situation. It鈥檚 a terrible situation, caused by a spill. The government will be there, and so will their neighbours. That鈥檚 what Saskatchewan is all about.鈥�
NDP Leader Trent Wotherspoon said, 鈥淚t sickens and saddens me to no end where we had this period of time where this oil continued to spill into the river. It bothers me to no end the actual response that was put up didn鈥檛 have adequate backup.鈥�
