Village says water usage not an environmental concern
Enbridge use of village water on service road raises questions of chlorine contamination
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Thursday, January 19, 2017
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
The Village of Fort Simpson and Enbridge Pipelines Inc. are moving to quench concerns chlorinated water may be contaminating vegetation along an access road to the Norman Wells Pipeline.
Winter road construction to the pipeline access has been completed. Crews are maintaining the road with snow cats and tire drags, along with watering. - photo courtesy of the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board
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The pipeline remains shut down due to slope stability concerns a few kilometres outside of Fort Simpson. In order to fix the pipeline, Enbridge is using an access road that follows the north slope of the Mackenzie River and has built an ice bridge across the river to the pipeline.
In an e-mail Enbridge spokesperson Suzanne Wilton said that while the road was originally constructed with Mackenzie River water, it has since been maintained using potable water.
"The ice road on the Mackenzie River was completed using only water drawn from the river, and that is the typical source for construction of the ice road," Wilton stated. "As for the overland access road, river water was used to build it and some potable water was used to maintain it."
Many community members contacted the Deh Cho Drum about the water use, since potable water contains chlorine, but did not want to go on-record with their concerns.
As far as the question of chlorine contamination goes, Wilton stated potable water is the same water used for drinking, watering homes and gardens.
"Using potable water for overland ice roads . is a safe and standard practice," she wrote.
The village agrees with her. On Jan. 16, former acting senior administrative officer Mitch Gast said there are no safety concerns with using potable water.
"That just doesn't exist in this circumstance," he said.
"They're just spraying it on the roads on the other side of the river to tighten up the snow on their snowpacks."
When they spray the water, he added, the chlorine degrades thanks in large part to UV rays.
However, Gast added he has advised bulk water contractor P.R. Contracting that one option is to dechlorinate the potable water while it's in the tanker.
"They just have to put a spoonful of powder in - dechlorinated, done, everybody's happy," he said.
Bulk water use has for years been contentious in Fort Simpson and in 2015 resulted in former councillor Leah Keats resigning her seat over a potential increase in pricing. Most recently, as residents and councillors questioned the amount of money the village was charging for bulk water, the village changed its bylaws several times with different prices.
Currently, commercial customers needing water hauled outside municipal boundaries must pay $18 per 1,000 litres of water.
Gast said questions have been raised in the past as to whether the village had been paid for its out-of-town bulk water. Now, he said, they utilize a cardlock system.
"You get the water, you pay for the water, and you take it. What you do with the water is not our concern - if you re-sell it or anything, it's not our concern," he explained.
"They can use it for whatever they want and we have no control over where the water goes."
He added the village is still working to address questions about past bulk water use, although could not give details.
P. R. Contracting was not available for comment at press time.
