Dear Editor
Weeks after the spill of 200,000 to 250,000 litres of heavy oil and diluent, much of it into the North Saskatchewan River, a number of questions need to be asked.
Premier Brad Wall stated July 27, the government wants to see the "complete restoration and rehabilitation" of the habitat and ecology of the river. How does he propose that this be achieved, who will pay for it and what inspection regime will he put in place to ensure that it happens?
What is the extent of contamination to wild food and herbs, and how do Husky and the provincial government propose to compensate First Nations for their loss of traditional foods and medicines?
Why did it take Husky 14 hours to realize the “pressure anomaly” in their monitoring system did indeed signify a leak that could have serious impacts?
How do Husky and the provincial government propose to clean heavy oil from the river bed? If not removed, the dense fractions (API<10) that have sunk or will sink to the bottom of the river could create dead zones and continue to perpetuate ecological damage for years to come. However, as was found in the case of the much larger 2010 Kalamazoo, Mich. leak, an adequate cleanup of these dense fractions may be virtually impossible.
Given that it is extremely challenging to clean up certain kinds of hydrocarbons, what is the precise composition of the mix of hydrocarbons that was spilled?
When was the pipeline last inspected by the province?
What steps will the provincial government take to ensure an adequate inspection regime for pipelines in the future? At present, the province employs only 27 inspectors to monitor more than 100,000 kilometres of pipelines. In this year’s provincial budget, the government cut $2.7 million from the regulator. There have been about 18,000 leaks in Saskatchewan since 1990 – approximately two per day - mostly onto farmland. (And that’s just those that were reported.)
Given that at present any desire on the part of industry to maximize public safety has to compete with the profit motive, will Wall abandon his current approach of industry self-regulation and establish an effective regulatory system that is independent of industry?
What steps will the provincial government take to ensure any future oil pipelines are not routed close to vulnerable waterways?
What steps will the provincial government take to ensure future oil pipelines are installed only with the free, prior and informed consent of the First Nations through whose traditional territory they pass?
What will Wall’s government do to develop a consistent water security regime for Saskatchewan? Such a regime needs to recognize water is a fundamental need both for human life and for the ecosystems on which it depends, and must respect First Nations' inherent rights and traditional knowledge.
Why was it that the deputy minister of the economy was the spokesperson for the spill, not the minister of the environment? This leads us to believe Premier Wall sees this only as an economic problem, rather than also an environmental and public health problem.
The Husky leak should, furthermore, prompt deeper questions about the way in which our economy is structured. We should read this accident as yet another warning of the need to urgently plan and pursue transition to a sustainable economy. Devastating forest fires in the north, and virtually unprecedented flooding of cities and agricultural land in the south, warn us the climate is changing, and we must move away rapidly from dependence on greenhouse gas emitting fossil fuels.
The sudden drop in the international oil price, together with weak potash and uranium markets, warns us of the volatility and instability of an economy based on extractive industries, as witnessed by the rising provincial deficit figures. And now this accident warns us dependence on oil can threaten the very basics of life even at a local level – a lesson First Nations in northern Alberta have been telling the world, out of their own painful personal experience, for decades.
We fear Premier Wall’s ideologically-driven commitment to Big Oil – reinforced by substantial infusions of Calgary petrocash to his party – renders him incapable, at present, of reading such signs of the times. There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Wall has taken some constructive measures to respond to the spill. But at the same time, he is backing Transcanada’s Energy East pipeline proposal – a project whose only purpose is to enable expansion of oilsands production. If built, it would bring the risk of diluted bitumen spillage to nearly 3,000 waterways – including seven in Saskatchewan — as well as the Great Sand Hills ecological reserve, Carry the Kettle First Nation and Regina’s Harbour Landing neighbourhood.
It’s long past time for a rethink, and for a just transition to a clean economy.
Jack Jensen
Renewable Power-the Intelligent Choice
Jessica Gordon
Idle No More
Rick Sawa
Prince Albert, Council of Canadians board member
Rachel Malena-Chan
Climate Justice Saskatoon
