LAYTON, ONE YEAR LATER
HOLLYWOOD IN MOURNING
Movie, Mulcair reflect on the man and his legacy A6
Tony Scott, Phyllis Diller remembered C5
CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
TUESDAY, AUG. 21, 2012
Costly cleanup
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
REMEDIATION OF RED DEER RIVER OIL SPILL TO SET BACK PLAINS MIDSTREAM CANADA UPWARDS OF $53 MILLION
Above: Heavy equipment and personnel continue to work at the site of a Plains Midstream Canada oil spill on the Red Deer River downstream from the Town of Sundre on Monday. The pipeline that runs under the Red Deer River spilled about 3,000 barrels (475,000) litres of light sour crude oil into the river June 7, 2012.
BY JESSICA JONES ADVOCATE STAFF The company dealing with an oil spill on the Red Deer River has estimated it will spend upwards of $53 million with cleanup and remediation activities. The multimillion-dollar cost was reported in the Aug. 9 Plains All American quarterly report — a subsidiary of Plains Midstream Canada. On June 7, up to 3,000 barrels (475,000 litres) of light sour crude oil was released into the Red Deer River from a Plains Midstream Canada rangeland pipeline about one km north of Sundre. “This estimate considers our prior experience in environmental investigation and remediation matters, as
Left: Mountain View County councillor Paddy Munro pilots his jet boat along the Red Deer River with his dog Joe near where a Plains Midstream Canada oil spill occurred earlier this summer. well as available data from, and in consultation with, our environmental specialists,” the report reads. The company states that the remediation costs may be more than estimated but it has “adequate reserves for all probable and reasonably estimated costs.” “Although we believe that our ef-
forts to enhance our leak prevention and detection capabilities have produced positive results, we have experienced (and likely will experience future) releases of hydrocarbon products into the environment from our pipeline and storage operations. “The inclusion of additional miles of pipe in our operations may result in
an increase in the absolute number of releases company-wide compared to prior periods,” the report continues. “They’ve got to be learning some lessons, that a pipeline break in a river is unbelievably costly,” Mountain View County Councillor Paddy Munro said.
Please see SPILL on Page A2
City chips in officers Police followed proper chase procedures before for new anti-gang unit woman’ death in collision BY LAURA TESTER ADVOCATE STAFF
CITY COUNCIL
A specialized police unit tackling organized crime across Central Alberta will launch in Red Deer with the help of taxpayers’ dollars, city council agreed on Monday. The city will partner with Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) to set up a regional Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit in Red Deer. City council supported contributing half of the costs, up to $150,000, towards renovating undeveloped space in the downtown city detachment. Dollars would come from municipal reserves and the detachment building surplus. The city would also provide six municipal RCMP members — three Mounties already working at the detachment and the remaining new officers would be funded over the next several years. Each officer costs about $130,000 to $140,000 annually. Community Services director Greg Scott said the city is contributing only a marginal amount compared with the province’s investment into the unit. The extra officers are funded by taxpayers’ dollars, Scott said. The province would fund nine positions — seven officers, one civilian member analyst and one administrative support position. Three federal
Mounties would come on stream as well. Red Deer is the only major city in Alberta that doesn’t have such a unit. “We recognize because of our location, the ALERT complement will be good at helping us deal with crime in our city and our whole area,” said Mayor Morris Flewwelling. Flewwelling said he’s concerned about gang activity in the city. “Anything we can do to interfere with the drug trade and organized crime is a real advantage,” said Flewwelling. The funding for ALERT came up during city council’s first-ever public review of the municipal budget halfway through the year. Coun. Paul Harris said the budget review highlight for him was seeing this major police unit being approved. “It’s huge,” Harris said. “Red Deer is geographically located right in the centre (between Calgary and Edmonton) so it’s a really desirable place for organized crime...this unit will help us interface with all those other cities that (have ALERT), so I think it will really help us.” Coun. Tara Veer said this new unit signifies that organized crime is a serious issue in Red Deer.
PLEASE RECYCLE
Please see GANGS on Page A2
WEATHER
INDEX
A mix of sun and cloud.
Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B3 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5,A6 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D6 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C5 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B6
FORECAST ON A2
HIGH LEVELS OF COCAINE FOUND IN VICTIM’S BLOOD BY ADVOCATE STAFF
FATALITY INQUIRY
A fatality inquiry into the 2008 death of a young woman who fled from a traffic stop has ruled the police officer followed proper procedures. Around 10:15 p.m. on Nov. 21, Kaelyn “Katie” Sahra Jalayne Shelton, 23, tried to escape from police at 48th Street and 48th Avenue after police stopped her pickup truck. The officer had witnessed Shelton driving without headlights erratically exiting a parking lot of a local bar. Before the police officer got out of his police car, Shelton accelerated her pickup truck and headed south on 48th Avenue and continued onto Spruce Drive. The officer pursued the pickup for about 50 to 60 seconds. The officer testified at the inquiry the pickup truck was travelling at high speeds for several blocks and narrowly missed hitting vehicles at an intersection. The pickup truck attempted to negotiate a corner but collided with a guard rail and rolled several times down a hill. Shelton, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected and died at the scene. A passenger in the vehicle, who was wearing a seat belt, was not injured. According to the report, the forensic toxicologist said, “the high levels of
cocaine present in the blood of the deceased at the time of her death that would have resulted in significant intoxication and likely signs of hyperactivity, anxiety and irrational or unpredictable behaviour.” The cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries and decapitation. The inquiry’s report said the officer followed proper pursuit procedures. The report concluded, “the evidence at this hearing established that proper pursuit procedures were followed by (the officer). Any different actions on his part, or on the part of others involved in the pursuit, would not have changed the driving pattern of the deceased which was the ultimate cause of her death.” The death was ruled accidental. No recommendations were made to prevent similar deaths. Shortly after Shelton’s death, the Advocate spoke with family members who said Shelton was living on the streets and was recently released from jail that month after taking part in a robbery. They said she had a history of drug use that began at a young age.
CANADA
BUSINESS
POLICE CLOSING IN ON LONGBALL TAKES AIM VICTIM’S IDENTITY AT APPAREL MARKET Police are linking several body parts found in east Toronto to a woman’s head, foot and two hands discovered in a river west of the city. A5
Three Central Alberta men are the principals of a startup clothing company that wants to become a high-powered Canadian name in golf apparel in the next five years. B1