Prince Albert eases emergency water restrictions after oil spill on river

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. — A Saskatchewan city has lifted some emergency water restrictions put in place after an oil spill on the North Saskatchewan River forced it to close drinking water intakes, but children in Prince Albert might still find the dog days of summer dry.

Conservation measures were implemented after a Husky pipeline leak detected July 21 spilled up to 250,000 litres of oil mixed with a lighter hydrocarbon into the river near Maidstone.

The city of Prince Albert said Thursday that a new temporary pipeline is drawing water from the South Saskatchewan River and another temporary pipeline to the Little Red River is also producing sufficient water flow.

Easing the restrictions means car washes, laundromats and other businesses which shut down after the spill can reopen.

Residents can also fill their pools, wash their cars or water their grass again, although the city is asking people to alternate days based on their address.

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But civic facilities, such as splash pads and a popular water slide park, remain closed.

“The priority is with anyone that had hardships to their businesses, their employees certainly felt it and certainly our rural consumers that also rely on the city water supply,” said Prince Albert director of community services, Jody Boulet.

“There’s certainly some higher priorities that need to get implemented before we bring our facilities back on.”

Boulet called the situation “unfortunate,” noting that the water park is a big regional tourist attraction.

“We get over 40,000 visits to the water park each season. We got about a little over halfway there before this situation occurred,” he said.

The city of North Battleford also closed its water intakes after the spill. A temporary line to bring water to the city was being disinfected Thursday and was expected to be operating by Monday. But the city said the new line will only provide about one-third of the lost water supply, so all restrictions for outside watering remain in place until further notice.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Economy is defending its pipeline oversight, saying it has been working for many years to strengthen regulations.

“Our new operating system went online in October of 2015 and, among other things, provides for online reporting. However, the oil and gas conservation regulations have included provisions requiring the reporting of incidents for decades,” said Laurie Pushor, deputy minister of the economy.

Saskatchewan’s provincial auditor said Wednesday that the province has only implemented two of seven recommendations her office made four years ago to improve oil pipeline safety.

The auditor’s office said in 2012 that the Ministry of Energy and Resources did not have effective ways to ensure full compliance with laws for pipeline construction and operation. It said one problem is that the ministry doesn’t collect enough information to know if pipelines are properly maintained or if operators can adequately respond to emergencies.

“We continue to work on a number of fronts,” said Pushor. “We are working on all of her recommendations.”

— By Jennifer Graham in Regina

The Canadian Press