Red Deer Advocate, January 09, 2013

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DOMINANT DIRECTOR Spielberg once again among Directors Guild nominees C5

LET THE SEASON BEGIN NHL training camps could open on Sunday B4

RED DEER ADVOCATE CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER

BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 9, 2013

RCMP seeks more officers FOUR OFFICERS AND TWO MUNICIPAL SUPPORT STAFF IN 2013 BUDGET REQUEST BY CRYSTAL RHYNO

UTILITY RATES SET TO RISE A2

ADVOCATE STAFF Boosting police staffing is part of the city’s efforts to increase safety in the community. Hiring four RCMP officers and two municipal support staff is part of the plan, council heard on the second day of operating budget deliberations on Tuesday. Greg Scott, the Community Services director, told council a key focus in this year’s work plan is safety in the community. The division covering recreation, parks and culture, social plan-

ning, police and transit has the second largest budget at $87.3 million within the city’s $284-million draft operating budget. RCMP Insp. Warren Dosko said the new officers translate to one additional officer on the street per shift. Dosko is currently working with KDivision and city staff to develop the services standards model that is expected to be before council in March. “I think that will make these budget conversations a little bit easier,” said Dosko. “We’ll have this document to fall back onto to say these are our stan-

County wants river study

dards. These are our ratios.” In October, the City of Red Deer released crime statistics for the period between 2006 and 2011, as well as staffing levels at the detachment. The numbers showed the number of Criminal Code files per member at Red Deer City RCMP was nearly 150, compared with 99 as the provincial average. As well, the numbers showed how many Criminal Code files each Mountie has per 1,000 residents. The detachment number is 202 per 1,000 residents, compared with the Alberta average of 139 files per 1,000 residents. In March, the new Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT),

focusing on organized crime in the region, is expected to be fully operational. Scott added in the coming year, the community will be called on to work corroboratively with the city to develop a crime prevention model for community. “It will not be led necessarily by the city forces but community owned, community empowered,” said Scott. “We will probably look around our community to enhance the whole crime prevention area.” The city will also release quarterly crime statistics starting this year. crhyno@reddeeradvocate.com

SKIING WITH CLASS

TO ASSESS FLOOD RISK BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF Mountain View County wants the province to update its flood assessment of the Red Deer River so decisions can be made on how best to ward against a future disaster. Municipal officials met last month with Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development staff and emphasized the need to take another look at the river, which hasn’t been assessed for many years. “A lot of information was based on a study done prior to the 2005 flood,” said Reeve Bruce Beattie. “Obviously, with the major flood that happened that year it changed significantly the course and the direction of the river. So we’re looking for a more updated study to get a better handle on what we can anticipate in terms of the river’s flow.” The request is in, but so far there has been no word from the province on if it plans to fund and undertake the assessment this year. Beattie said provincial officials recognize that the flood risk is a significant issue to the community. Alberta Environment spokesperson Carrie Sancartier said the province is “committed to further discussion with the county to ensure proper and appropriate flood management including flood hazard mapping.” More discussions will be needed before a decision on a new river review is made. Beattie said getting a handle on flood risk is critical before the municipality can determine what further steps should be taken to guard against the river overflowing its banks. Last June, about 300 residents southwest of Sundre were given evacuation notices when the river once again topped its banks, flooding some low-lying areas and cutting off access roads to housing. Mountain View County decided in October to spend about $250,000 constructing a berm to hold back the river, which flowed into a new channel over the summer.

Please see STUDY on Page A2

PLEASE RECYCLE

Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff

Braving the cool temperatures in a skirt and sleeveless top, Justine Lattery leads her classmates Carson Waines and Julia Densmore up a hill outside Mattie McCullough Elementary School in Red Deer on Tuesday. The grade five students from Derk Untershultz and Kim Jewan’s class spent some time Tuesday afternoon working on their skiing skills with cross country ski instructor Bob Vanderwater in the school yard.

City fined $50K for PCB leak in 2010 BY BRENDA KOSSOWAN AND PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF The City of Red Deer has been fined $50,000 after pleading guilty to releasing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a power transformer substation in 2010. Transformer oil from a contaminated storage tank leaked into the soil between May and October of that year. PCBs are no longer legal in Canada because they persist in the environment as well as in humans and animals and are believed to cause cancer, said Crown prosecutor Moira Váne during sentencing in Red Deer provincial court on Tuesday. The oil had been stored at Substation 3 after upgrades were performed to meet federal environment regulations, Váne said in presenting the agreed statement of facts to Judge Gordon Deck. Oil had been used to insulate the transformers, with PCBs as an additive to enhance the insulating properties,

WEATHER

INDEX

Flurries. High -2. Low -14.

Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B3 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D4 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C5 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4-B6

FORECAST ON A2

She also asked that the city tighten up its protocols for handling PCBs, including updating its training programs and ensuring that all employees who may handle the materials have completed the training program by the end of February, 2014. The recommended fine of $50,000 is to go into a federal fund, where it will be held for distribution to environmental enhancement and protection projects within the City of Red Deer, said Váne. Any money still in the fund after five years can be diverted to similar projects elsewhere in Alberta, she said, noting that the money comes from city taxpayers and should therefore be used in their benefit. Deck agreed with the recommended sentence, stating that the city must be encouraged to share its story with other municipalities in the province. “The article concerned should be circulated so all municipalities are well aware of what happened,” he said.

she said. Contaminated oil was removed from the transformers on May 17, 2010, and placed in a group of 25 208-litre drums that were stored on the site at 3907 55th St. A chain link fence was the only security from trespassers and the drums were placed in the open on a thin layer of gravel with no provisions to contain leaks, said Váne. On Oct. 21, 2010, a city worker noticed a small “nick” in one of the drums and that it was nearly empty. It is believed about 160 litres of contaminated oil leaked out. Environment Canada was notified four days later and announced the charges nearly two years later. All 25 drums were taken to Swan Hills for disposal. Contaminated soil was also removed from the site. Váne asked that the city’s sentence include a fine and an order that it fully disclose details of the incident through an article to be submitted to the Red Deer Advocate for publication and that it share its experience with other municipalities.

Please see FINE on Page A2

BUSINESS

CANADA

HOUSING MARKET TO MAKE ‘SOFT LANDING’

PM RULES OUT MISSION TO MALI

Canada’s real estate market remains ‘relatively solid’ and should experience a ‘soft landing’ despite the current slowdown, the countries leading bankers said Tuesday. B1

Prime Minister Stephen Harper ruled out sending Canadian troops to fight Islamist insurgents in Mali. D5


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