Husky oil spill continues to affect cities' drinking water

It's still not business as usualfor cities downstream of Husky Energy's oil spill.

Officials with the City of NorthBattleford, one of three Saskatchewan communities affected by the summer spill,said they continue to pipe water in from the neighbouring town ofBattleford.

As cold weather approaches, crews are now installing a filtering system to allow some water to be drawn from the North Saskatchewan River.

"Our citizens will not pay the bill, that's for darn sure," said DavidGillan, NorthBattleford'sdirector of finance.

One of Husky's pipelines broke in Julyafter what the company calls a "sudden, one-time event"where a rain-soaked section of riverbank shifted.

• University of Saskatchewan engineersays cause of Husky oil spill not a 1-time event
• Husky's oil pipeline broke due to ground movement, report says

Gillan said NorthBattlefordhas a good working relationship with Huskyand the energy company's insurer has paid all costs associated with the spill.

"It may not be over"

Gillansaid the city of NorthBattlefordwill go back to using the PVC pipeline to the town ofBattlefordonce spring thaw arrives.

Winter and freeze-up changethe river dynamics significantly.- David Gillan, City of North Battleford

He said officials prefer to err on the side of caution before relying heavily on river water, and want more water sampling tests to come back clean next spring and summer.

"Winter and freeze-up changethe river dynamics significantly,"Gillansaid, noting clean-up efforts continue at the spill site. "It may not be over."

Costs related to spill exceed $8 million in Prince Albert

GregDionne,mayorof Prince Albert, said Husky has been billed approximately $8M for clean up and the city is not done.

Some water-related repairs near Little Red River Park cannot be completeduntil next spring, and those will also be billed to Husky, he said.

Although Husky's report characterized the spill as "a sudden, one-time event", Dionnesaid it's no surprise that in wet years, riverbanks shift and move.

"This could happen again," he said. "We should be checking for all the pipes to come out to make sure that the ground hasn't moved because it has been wet."

• Government to inspect Sask. pipelines crossing potable water

Dionnetold reporters in Prince Albert he still doesn't understand how Husky couldn't stop the oil slick from traveling more than 380 kilometres downstream.

"It didn't happen on a tanker in the ocean where it can go four directions," said Dionne of the spill. "It happened in a river channel that's controlled. The channel is so wide and so far that we know where it runs. I don't know why it got away from them."

He said the energy company claimed its booms did not work because of the high river flow in July. The river rises two metres every July, and the company failed to anticipate that. Dionne added.

"If we know the water's coming and we know there's debris coming that could damage the lines, then we should be there protecting them," he said.

Husky to upgrade pipe

Engineers from Stantecnoted the south riverbank in the spill area had likely received in excess of 95 millimetres of rain nine days prior to the July 21 leak. In their findings, they noted the riverbank was going through a "very slow-moving landslide"when the pipeline carrying oil diluent50 kilometres east of Lloydminsterbuckled and broke.

Husky has promised to upgrade that section with heavier pipeand install early-warning monitoring systems in the area.

Citizens in Prince Albert had to cut back water use dramatically this summerwhen water intakes along the North Saskatchewan River were cut off. The city rolled 30 kilometres of temporary pipeline eastto draw water from the South Saskatchewan River instead.

By mid-September, provincial environment authorities said water samples showed treated water from the river would be safe to drink.