Debates of October 22, 2004 (day 26)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question today is to the Premier in his responsibility as the Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation. It is with regard to the oil spill at the Jackfish plant.

Mr. Speaker, in the newspaper on October 8th, the story was covered. The Minister indicated that, because of less usage of the plant with the Bluefish plant being more operational, there has been less need for 24-hour supervision or there has been some cut. It is a cost-cutting measure. The Premier questioned whether or not having more people there would have prevented it. I think the point is that not that more people would prevent that, but when it does happen, that the more people being there could take care of the situation. So I would like to know from the Minister whether or not he has had any discussions with the Power Corporation about having adequate staff there to monitor it so that when something does happen there is a quick response to it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Return To Question 285-15(3): Spill At Jackfish Power Plant

Mr. Speaker, yes, I have had discussions with the Power Corporation about security and having someone to make sure that these kinds of incidents don’t happen if they can at all be prevented. Mr. Speaker, we have to recognize as well, though, that the generators out at Jackfish do not operate many hours any more because of the mine shutdown and because we have bought the Bluefish hydro project. We are, in the city here, now largely a hydro power serviced community. The only times that the Jackfish plant generators are running is for routine maintenance; the need for them to be started up every now and again. They will be used when the weather turns colder and a few days when it is minus 40 and so on. We don’t need operators to watch generators that are not operating, that are just shut down. What we need, though, is more security. I have talked to the Power Corporation about that issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 285-15(3): Spill At Jackfish Power Plant

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, even if the plant is not in full use, it is situated practically in the middle of the city, next to a lake that people frequent for recreational uses and for other reasons. It is important that that facility be monitored and the safety is taken care of so that environmental disasters don’t happen that affect the people. Mr. Speaker, I understand that extra security would monitor it, but you still need operators on standby in case something happens. I don’t know if the security is enough. Mr. Speaker, there are varying numbers as to how much oil was spilled. It was initially reported by the company that 3,000 litres were spilled. There is an employee who is suggesting that up to 50,000 litres were spilled. The latest report a couple of days ago suggests that it was 13,000 litres, which is still 10,000 more than what the company was suggesting. I would like to know what investigation has gone on to determine exactly what happened, how much was spilled, and how to prevent this from happening. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 285-15(3): Spill At Jackfish Power Plant

Mr. Speaker, I will answer the last question. Mr. Speaker, the Power Corporation has a way of calculating the amount of fuel that is used, that is by measuring how much the fuel has gone down in a tank. They know that, in running the engines, some of the fuel is consumed by the generators when they are started up and when they run. When they first did the calculation, they made an error in the amount of hours that the generators were running and estimated something over 3,000 litres. They have since done a closer calculation and are now pretty comfortable that 13,000 litres is the amount that was spilled. I don’t know how the employee who mentioned 50,000 litres calculated that or where that came from. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Short supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 285-15(3): Spill At Jackfish Power Plant

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It seems to me that the federal government is somehow involved in investigating this. Could I ask the Minister to tell us whether or not the GNWT is responsible for monitoring and enforcing and cleaning this, or is it the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 285-15(3): Spill At Jackfish Power Plant

Mr. Speaker, the lead department on these kinds of spills is the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, because of the size of the spill, if Environment Canada chose to become involved, they have the right to become involved as well because of the size of the spill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Your final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 285-15(3): Spill At Jackfish Power Plant

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity for final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, the report suggests that the workforce at the plant, for whatever reasons and maybe for valid reasons, has been reduced from 10 to four, and there are no longer operators beyond 5:00 p.m. where it used to be monitored 24 hours a day. There seems to be a lot of morale problems. There always is when there are changes going on in a facility like that. There are people who have been working there for many decades. I would like to know if the Minister would speak to the corporation to make sure that all the workers there know what is going on, what the future plan of the plant is, what they should be expecting and that their concerns and grievances are dealt with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 285-15(3): Spill At Jackfish Power Plant

Mr. Speaker, there are always morale problems whenever any operation reduces staff and so on. At one time, we did need a lot of operators when the two mines were operating, the city was growing, and we were using the diesel power from the Jackfish plant a lot. But now, with the two mines closed, with the Bluefish onside, we don’t need the number of operators, so we have cut back, and that has caused morale problems. I have spoken to a couple of the workers myself. I will pass this information on to the Power Corporation, as well. Mr. Speaker, the reality is that we just don’t need as many as we did before because we are not using that plant as much. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.