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HAY RIVER
A dozen people turned out in Hay River last week to express concerns about storing bulk fuel in barges frozen in ice in the North.

In the winter of 2007-2008, these frozen-in barges held 50 million litres of diesel fuel on the Hay River until it was trucked to Diavik mine when the winter road opened. - NNSL file photo

There was a general consensus at the Sept. 20 outreach session held by Transport Canada that the practice carries a risk of environmental contamination, especially since the department has no rules regarding it.

"Right now, Transport Canada has got no regulation for this specific practice," said Jaideep Johar, manager of technical services with Transport Canada.

"I'm appalled that this has been happening since the 1970s and there are no regulations on it," said Cec Heron of Fort Smith, adding it will become an even bigger issue if the Mackenzie Gas Project goes ahead.

Concern was also expressed by Albert Bourque, the regional environmental co-ordinator with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"Myself, as a regulator, it leaves me kind of scratching my head about why this is really permitted," Bourque said.

Bernard Dueck, a Hay River town councillor, said the practice should stop.

"I believe they shouldn't be frozen in, period," he said. "They should be pulled out."

Dueck also wondered how the barge's hull can be monitored under ice.

Justin Lapointe of the Association Franco-Culturelle de Hay River also questioned the lack of regulation.

"It's just a black hole in the law," Lapointe said, adding fuel should be stored where it's safe.

Lapointe and others wondered if companies take advantage of the lack of regulations to store fuel in barges and thereby avoid the more costly and regulated storage in tanks on land.

"Who are we really saving money for when we are really leading up to a calamity?" said Scotty Edgerton, the chief executive officer with K'atlodeeche First Nation on the Hay River Reserve.

Johar said the practice has happened in the past in a number of places in the Mackenzie Valley, Inuvik, Tuktoyaktuk, Hay River and a few places in Nunavut.

An instance in Hay River from the winter of 2007-2008 was often brought up. Back then, Northern Transportation Company Ltd. stored 50 million litres of diesel in 22 barges while it waited for the winter road to open. Then the fuel was transferred to trucks and moved to the Diavik mine.

Susan Zacharias, a policy co-ordinator with Transport Canada's Prairie and Northern Region based in Winnipeg, said the outreach session is a critical part of a review to capture concerns and help develop a policy on the practice.

Zacharias said the work has involved other federal departments and territorial governments.

The bulk of the review so far has been a regulatory review of the many acts, regulations and guidelines that have to do with the operation of barges.

Transport Canada will also be talking to industry players, including shippers and mines, to find out their current practices.

Zacharias said the information will be combined into a discussion paper for a meeting of the Canadian Marine Advisory Council in November.

Along with the outreach session in Hay River, another was held in Inuvik on Sept. 11.

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