By Greg Higgins

Water line connecting Battlefords nearly complete

Aug 1, 2016 | 6:09 PM

The pipeline connecting North Battleford to the Town of Battleford’s water supply is on schedule.

Emergency management commissioner Duane McKay said weekend construction has gone well and there havn’t had any delays. The pipeline is expected to be completed and functional tomorrow, Tuesday, Aug. 2.

North Battleford shut down the F.E. Holliday surface water plant a week ago and has been relying on its ground water treatment plant since. The plant was shut down due to a Husky Energy pipeline which leaked oil into the North Saskatchewan River.

“The line will give the people of North Battleford potable water and some redundancy in case anything happens,” McKay said. “Strong coordination between the two communities has produced some innovated solutions.”

North Battleford is looking into long-term options since the Battleford line won’t function during winter.

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Sam Ferris, an official with the Water Security Agency, said engineers visited the city to discuss its options.

“We are looking at building new wells to help supply water to the ground treatment plant. The other option is a pre-treatment system to filter river water and remove any petroleum before it is allowed to enter the surface water treatment plant,” Ferris said.

According to Ferris, the plans are still in the early stages of development.

Crews have been able to clean the worst part of the spill.

Wes Kotyk, an official with the ministry of environment, said the washing, excavation and vegetation removal have already been done to the area within one km of the spill.

“As we move further dow,n the impacts to the shore are less and less. We will be adjusting accordingly,” Kotyk said.

According to Kotyk the low water levels in the river have affected access to the shore.

“We’ve had to modify and minimize the number of people on the boats and what boats we use. Weight restrictions we might not be able to carry as much oil so it might require more trips. We can still get there it’s just a matter of figuring out other ways to do it,” Kotyk said.    

The number of wild live killed by the oil spill has risen to 49.

Greg Higgins is battlefordsNOW’s city municipal affairs and health reporter. He can be reached at ghiggins@jpbg.ca or tweet him @realgreghiggins.