SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Warning that the existing dam could burst, the Northwest Territories Power Corporation is prepared to take a regulatory board to court to ensure a replacement dam can be built immediately at the Bluefish Hydro Plant, according to a power corporation spokesperson.

Failure of the crumbling Bluefish dam, located 20 km north of Yellowknife, is "imminent," according to a letter from the power corporation to the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board dated Sept. 8.

"NTPC (Northwest Territories Power Corporation) cannot accept any delays or disruptions which may arise due to any matters," the letter states, adding the power corporation is seeking replacement of the dam through emergency exemptions under existing acts and regulations.

The board views the proposed dam, to be built 400 metres downstream from the existing site, as a new structure as opposed to a replacement. It is rejecting the hasty time line, forcing the corporation to go through an environmental impact review. That process involves extensive studies and consultation and can take years to complete, time the corporation says it doesn't have.

Mike Bradshaw, director of corporate communications for NTPC, said the corporation needs to undertake the estimated $17 million project immediately to avoid a year's delay.

"We need to get a winter road into site to haul in equipment and camps and other requirements so we can start construction in the spring," he said. "There are impacts on customers and the environment if we don't replace the dam."

A third party engineer's report concluded the dam, almost 70 years old, will fail "in the near future," but the report does not specify how soon. When the corporation purchased the dam in 2003, it knew at some point the dam would need to be replaced, but never expected it to be this soon, Bradshaw added.

Tyree Mullaney, a regulatory officer with the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, said the regulatory body had no knowledge of any legal action being taken.

"We are talking with NTPC; their application has been filed and they're running through the regulatory process," Mullaney said. "It's kind of hard to say which way things are going to go right now."

Manick Duggar, acting executive director for the board, said the board felt it would be "premature" to respond to any potential legal action.

Replacement of the dam will take at least two years, if not three, to complete, according to Bradshaw. If the dam fails, the loss of energy created at the site will force the corporation to use more diesel fuel to compensate.

"Since about 1990 ... (NTPC has) been aggressively reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the North and a lot of that would be undone if Bluefish is out of commission and that seven megawatts would have to be replaced," he said.

Diesel over three years would cost close to $20 million, not including maintenance on the equipment and with this comes the potential for an increase in power rates for customers, according to Bradshaw.

NTPC would have to make an application to the Public Utilities Board for costs associated with the increased use of diesel.

"Any costs the corporation would bear in serving customers would be recovered from customers," Bradshaw said.

Discussions between the board and the power corporation are ongoing. Bradshaw said NTPC hopes to show the board the importance of exempting the dam replacement without having to force a court ruling.