LLI GOLINE/NORMAN WELLS
Norman Wells almost began evacuating residents from the town on Jan. 28 when the flow of natural gas - the source of heat for about half the community - was lost in frigid winter temperatures.
Mayor Harold McGregor: "They have natural gas back on stream to us and they're confident they can maintain the supply." - NNSL file photo
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"Probably we were within an hour of making that decision," said Mayor Gregor Harold McGregor of a possible evacuation, which he said would have involved at least children, mothers, and elders.
A state of emergency was declared after the flow of natural gas to the community was interrupted, leaving some homes and buildings without heat. The supply was interrupted at about 3 a.m. on Jan. 28 following a power outage at Imperial Oil's field and plant facilities, which provide both natural gas and electricity to the town.
McGregor said that, if a mid-afternoon update from Imperial Oil had not been very positive and it looked like the natural gas supply might be gone for the night, the town would have probably started calling the airlines.
However, an evacuation was not necessary.
By then, natural gas was back on stream to the community, furnaces were being relit, and Imperial Oil was confident it could maintain the supply.
McGregor said around half of the town, which has a population of about 800, is on natural gas and was therefore affected, including residences, government buildings and businesses.
The town has backup electrical generation.
Some people using natural gas for heating were moved to other locations in the community.
"We've moved some seniors into the daycare, which has oil heat, and some other people into the school, which has oil heat," McGregor said.
In all, about 20 people, including the seniors, were moved out of their own residences as a precaution.
According to Environment Canada, the temperature in Norman Wells was -42 C at 11 a.m. on Jan. 28, with a wind chill of -50 C.
McGregor said there was no serious damage caused in the town as a result of the loss of natural gas, just a few frozen pipes.
Town hall, the fire department, the airport and Mackenzie Mountain School have alternative heating sources, which are mostly diesel. However, the community's nursing station was shut down.
The state of emergency, declared at about 9 a.m. on Jan. 28, was lifted at 4:15 p.m. on Jan. 30.
The Imperial Oil facility was getting back to normal by the afternoon of Jan. 28, McGregor said. "But there was still an issue with the power generation from Imperial Oil and we talked it over with them and we decided that it would be prudent to leave (the state of emergency) in place simply because, if something did go wrong on the startup, we could act quicker without putting in another resolution."
It is unclear what caused the power outage at the Imperial Oil facility.
"Obviously the investigation is a priority, but a higher priority for us right now is getting the field back up to normal operation," said Pius Rolheiser, an Imperial Oil spokesperson in Calgary. "We certainly are investigating, but at this point we don't have a determination yet on what might have caused that power outage. Obviously the power outage triggered the controlled shutdown, which brought our facilities down."
Rolheiser said the aim of the investigation is to understand what happened, but more importantly to see if there are things that can be learned to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Speaking on Jan. 31, Rolheiser said it might take a few days to get the facility back to normal operation.
"You can't predict with certainty how long it's going to take because you don't know what you're going to encounter, but we've got the right people there working to restore and restart equipment," he said. "Obviously, when you have cold conditions like we're experiencing there, it takes a while to thaw things out and to warm them up and to get them back on line."
The Imperial Oil spokesperson said there had been some early reports that a fire may have caused the power outage, but the company is not aware of any fire.
Rolheiser said no damage has been found at the company's facilities.
