LLI GOLINE/NORMAN WELLS
After a meeting between town council and regional MLAs on May 30, Norman Wells Mayor Dudley Johnson said the fuel supply in the town is still operating on borrowed time.

"Based on discussions in the meeting, we now have until the third week in June before we run out (of fuel)," Johnson said.

"There are currently no plans for evacuation at this time," he said.

Johnson said residents attempted to come up with a solution to fuel the more than 200 households and approximately 100 businesses currently relying on a mixture of air and propane to function. Equipment provided by the Calgary-based company ATCO is pumping the mixture.

"It's still costing us $15,000 a day to man and run the ATCO equipment," Johnson said.

The equipment provided by ATCO has been helping to fuel the town since the second week of May. Shortly after Norman Wells declared a state of emergency on May 6, when a 28,000-barrel oil spill in Alberta forced the Enbridge pipeline to be shut down, ATCO airlifted the equipment into the area. Although the equipment has provided temporary relief for the town, the ongoing cost of propane and running the equipment - along with the $48,000 price tag to airlift the 21,000 litres of propane required to fuel the town - is a sum of money residents of Norman Wells cannot afford to pay, Johnson said.

Enbridge has not issued a timeframe for when the oil line connected to the town will re-open.

Officials with Enbridge and representatives of the GNWT could not be reached for comment.

In an effort to cover costs, Johnson has been appealing to the GNWT to cover the fuel. This week, the mayor said he is meeting with Municipal and Community Affairs Minister Robert McLeod, Public Works Minister Michael McLeod and Premier Floyd Roland. He will also meet with MACA officials to talk about the crisis. Johnson said he is also travelling to Yellowknife to meet with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities where he will talk to officials about the town's concerns.

"I also have two days in between meetings this week, and plan to travel to Ottawa then to talk to the federal government about what is going on in the community," he said. "The idea of fuelling the town with diesel came up in the meeting, but the question is how we would be able to do it. The federal government has strict regulations when it comes to transporting diesel."

The Federal Government requires double-hulled barges be used to transport diesel and the Northern Transportation Company Limited only has single-hulled barges and Johnson said the kind the town needs to transport the fuel might not be available.

"It's a very tight situation," he said. "There are livelihoods in this town that depend on businesses and homes running, and there's going to be trouble when September comes.

"The weather is beautiful right now, and we can use the equipment (from ATCO) as long as it's warm outside, but you can't use propane in the winter - it gets too cold (for the equipment) to work properly."

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