In the meantime, Prince Albert is considering tapping into a storm retention pond that could provide up to five more days of water. As a precaution, North Battleford has filled water reservoirs as well as the water tower and shut its water intake from the river.
Advertisement
The Saskatchewan Gathering System runs from Husky’s heavy oil operations east of Lloydminster to the company’s facilities in that city, where the oil is upgraded, used in asphalt or shipped on to the oilsands hub of Hardisty, Alberta. He added that four birds, one frog and one fish have died as a result of the spill so far.
“It may impact the perception in Saskatchewan of pipeline safety because we haven’t had really serious incidents of a major breach that impacted the environment before”, said Peter Prebble, director of environmental policy with the Saskatchewan Environmental Society.
City manager Jim Toye said the slick was spotted near the Saskatchewan community of more than 35,000 shortly after 6:00 a.m. Monday. The CBC reports the city has enough water stored to last 48 hours, and officials are urging residents to limit water use to stretch that until the end of the week, which will buy time to get a backup system running.
The Saskatchewan government said Friday that new steps are being taken.
Pate said Husky, which is controlled by billionaire Li, is in daily contact with communities and would cover unspecified costs.
On Sunday, city crews began rolling out an emergency waterline that will connect the South Saskatchewan River near the Muskoday First Nation to the city’s water treatment plant.
“Obviously this is not something that anybody wants to see happen”, Brad Wall, the Saskatchewan premier, told reporters Friday. A previous version had “operationing” in Peabody’s title.
Prince Albert city council was also holding a special meeting Monday to discuss what Toye called “drastic” water conservation measures that would include no watering of private lawns, golf courses, city parks and water fun parks.
Advertisement
Husky ranks in the top quartile among integrated oil companies for a three-year average oil spill rate relative to oil produced, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Gregory Elders and Philipp Chladek reported last month. He said Husky has established a program for recovery with the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Saskatchewan.
