Questions and concerns were asked and answered while others remain to be addressed after a resident in the RM of Estevan confronted the RM council last Wednesday morning. Bob Story also had several questions for Millennium Stimulation Services and the Long Creek Railway corporation, the company that operates a short line rail service from the outskirts of Estevan.
Story approached council during their open session, seeking answers to the concerns he had outlined in a letter to the local rural municipality earlier.
In emphatic fashion, Story reiterated the six major concerns he had listed in his letter, noting that he was opposed to the establishment of a sand transloading facility on RM land that he said was just too close to his residence, about 500 feet.
Story said the noise level of the locomotives that are used to pick up the sand for oilfield fracking practices is just too loud. He also wanted to get information regarding the off-loading process that would be used, dust control methods, communication with local residents, road conditions and loading frequencies.
Dean Hillenga, chief operating officer for Millennium and Ron Deringer, district manager for the same company, provided responses as did Doug Ashworth, representing the Long Creek rail company.
The Millennium representatives assured Story the loading process involved an electric loader to carry the product into a 186-foot silo and that gravity loading would take over from that point. A pneumatic system is being deployed for dust control.
Ashworth said the locomotive, when not in use, will be in a shed well-removed from the Story residence.
Since the business pace will dictate the number of trips trucks and rail cars will make daily, Deringer later told The Mercury, the expectation was for between two and six truckloads per working day for delivery of product to the silo.
RM Reeve Kelly Lafrentz assured Story that the council had taken the proper public notification steps prior to moving forward with the proposal and that his response was the only negative reaction to the project to date.
Story countered that he felt the business simply was too intrusive, that it would disrupt residential well being in the RM and that "the RM needs some quiet spots, it's a selling feature for you, but maybe you're just trying to bring in the money."
Hillenga and Deringer said similar transloading facilities are located in North Dakota and they too, are fairly close to residences and don't appear to be causing grief. However, they added, they would be willing to provide more information regarding acceptable noise levels and dust control.
"My suggestion is that Millenium hit the road and find a rural property to use," said Story.
Lafrentz reminded Story that the property in question is in an industrial subdivision and that perhaps he was assuming some things that just weren't going to become a reality.
Hillenga said the loading plant will be creating less noise than any grain handling program and the noisiest part of the operation will be the dust compression unit. Speaking from experience, he said it was difficult to hear them from 40 feet.
"But we'll do more research on decibel levels, what's acceptable and what isn't and we're willing to do more if necessary," said Hillenga.
Ashworth said Long Creek's plan is to only operate the locomotive during traditional working hours between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. The rest of the time the locomotive will be deployed elsewhere along the line, or will be housed. He said last winter the locomotive was left in an idling state on a few evenings for about a month during the early winter before the shed was built.
"We don't want to disturb neighbours, we will be willing to address any perceived problems," said Hillenga.
Deringer said there might be an occasional night load, but that would not be a normal practice.
As far as rail car movement was concerned, Ashworth noted that this is done with an electric cable and with rail cars moving only one direction, the process will be quieter than normal traffic movement.
Discussions regarding the sad state of local highways then cropped up, with Ashworth reminding everyone that the process was taking pressure off the already abused local grid and highway system.
As the discussion wound down, Lafrentz said councillors would engage in further discussion and would respond to Story in writing, as he requested.
In a lighter moment of the conversation that was rather tense at times, councillor Dennis Blackburn asked whether Long Creek could arrange for a passenger car to be added to their fleet so that some local residents might be able to move around while avoiding the bad highways.
Lafrentz noted that property owners cost share dust control in the industrial areas of the RM.
Deringer later told The Mercury Millennium hoped to have the concerns addressed and that the transloading facility could be operational by mid-December with council's approval and if the weather co-operated and they were able to find a good labour force to complete construction. He said the expectations would be for the loading and dispatching of up to 40 rail cars of sand per month. He said the company will investigate the decibel level questions and will take that and any further information required back to council in the near future. In the meantime the company is moving ahead with the construction of an office in Estevan.
In other council business, the RM said they still have no decision made on a 260-person man camp suggested for the outskirts of Estevan. The Reeve said there had been some opposition raised to the proposal. Lafrentz said that in the previous agreement with another company, the builders and operators of the camp would be responsible for security, water and waste disposal and reasonable roads and traffic patterns in and out of the camp.
