Saskatoon working on contingency plan following P.A. oil spill

The 2016 oil spill that blanketed the North Saskatchewan River near Prince Albert and shut down the local water intake system is being used as a springboard by the City of Saskatoon as local officials work toward a contingency plan should something similar happen there.

Reid Corbett, director of Saskatoon Water, said Saskatoon is working to prepare for a possible oil spill after seeing the far-reaching effects the spill had in P.A. The city commissioned Stantec Engineering to do a raw water resiliency study and make recommendations on the best ways to address hydrocarbon, or oil spills into the river.

“With it being so devastating of an oil spill in Prince Albert, we decided we better make sure that we’re prepared for a similar occurrence because we draw our water from the South Saskatchewan River,” Corbett said. “Upstream of us, there are seven pipeline crossings that carry liquid petroleum, so we’re kind of in the same scenario as Prince Albert.”

Corbett presented the findings from the Stantec study this week to an environmental committee with the City of Saskatoon. The study recommends using a powder-activated carbon dosage system located at the city’s raw water intake system.

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In the event of a spill, the power-activated carbon (PAC) could be inserted into the water system to stick to and collect the oil, Corbett said. The system would cost the city an estimated $3 to $5 million, Corbett added, and the city will be talking with other municipalities that use similar systems to gauge how well they work.

“I think based on the cost that the city of Prince Albert experienced from a business perspective, we can justify the expenditure,” Corbett added. “But, I think a more important perspective is public safety, our water treatment plant provides water for over 300,000 people.”

Pending approval from Saskatoon City Council, construction of the dosage system could happen in 2021.

Other recommendations from the report include creating an emergency response plan and installing in-river water quality monitoring system upstream of the water intake system, which could provide real-time data in the event of an emergency.

“That would give us a response time, to go out and install oil-absorbing booms and start up the PAC system,” Corbett added.

The City of Saskatoon looked at other options for its contingency planning, such as a new raw water intake and new pipes, which would costs in excess of $80 million, Corbett added. The possibility of groundwater aquifers was also reviewed, but would not be able to produce enough water to meet demand.

Corbett said the city is currently looking at water rates for the next three years and a plan to include the new PAC system should be fleshed out by the end of 2019.

“If there was a desire from council, we could start design in 2020 and construction in 2021,” he said.

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Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt