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Bluefish dam concerns go back years

Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Friday, July 13, 2012

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
With the Bluefish Lake dam replacement project nearing completion, city fears concerning cost overruns have proven justified.

The projected costs to replace the dam were originally estimated at $18.5 million but they have since doubled. The initial cost was justified by emergency procedures needed in order to keep the aging infrastructure running.

The repairs were only ever considered temporary, however, as full replacement was required.

According to a September 2009 City of Yellowknife document in which it evaluates the NWT Power Corporation's application for a major project permit, a safety review of the dam was conducted by EBA Engineering Consultants in 2005. It revealed some alarming facts, notably that the spillway and timbers were in "poor to unsatisfactory" condition.

"The city is concerned with the estimated $18.5 million replacement costs: the cost estimates are based on rough order of magnitude estimates of +/- 50 per cent," the document said.

In a letter replying to the city's concerns, NTPC stated: "In fact the budget submitted by NTPC in the application has been refined since the EBA estimates. Further, NTPC has committed to providing the (Mackenzie Valley Land and Water) board with updated costs once the tendering process is complete."

In August 2009, the power corporation submitted an application to the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board in order to build a new dam, citing it would be far cheaper than risking the old dam's collapse and subsequent repair.

In April, power corp. spokesperson Bob Kelly said the original budget was underestimated because of the urgency faced by the corporation when submitting its application. As a result, a slew of projects could not be accounted for at the time.

The city mentioned those additional projects in its 2009 document.

"The city is concerned with the large increases in capital costs that have been incurred since the purchase of the Bluefish hydro facility and the forecast costs to construct the replacement dam," it said.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem said the city is still worried about the costs to this day.

"The city is concerned about any cost overruns, especially when they will impact our cost of living and cost of doing business," he said. "Unfortunately there was no opportunity for public input into the decision as it was approved as an emergency repair."

In 2009 the document had already begun citing extra expenditures.

"There have been significant cost overruns on the intake structure and Duncan Lake control structure and now the cost of the new Bluefish Dam and spillway is estimated at $18.5 million plus regulatory costs or well above the $7 million originally estimated by energy consultancy and project management services," it said.

A power corp. rebuttal stated that both projects had been undertaken in "an economic climate that involved higher labour costs, higher material costs and fewer contractors bidding on work."

Tim Doyle, executive director of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, expressed his concerns with the 26 per cent increase in electrical rates over the next four years, some of which will help pay for the replacement dam.

"It seems like all these major Northern projects - whether they're bridges or power plants or something else - double or even triple in cost, and that is passed on to the end user," he said. "It hurts."

The location of the new dam is 400 metres downstream from the current one, which is more than 70 years old.

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