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Issue 25
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY FOR 113 YEARS
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Wed., Nov. 4, 2015
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Clean coal project defended By Norm Park normpark@estevanmercury.ca
The political and business proponents of SaskPower’s Boundary Dam Unit 3 carbon capture pilot project mounted an aggressive defense against criticisms levelled at the project by New Democratic Party opponents this past week. The criticism spilled into question period in the provincial Legislative Assembly on Oct. 29 as the opposition NDP claimed there was a serious problem with the experiment that was costing the province a further $12 million in penalties revealed in an internal document that was leaked to them a couple of days earlier. “The government claims we’re already in for a $5 million to $6 million penalty, plus millions in lost revenue for 2015 because their billion-dollar experiment isn’t working properly,” said Cathy Sproule, the NDP’s SaskPower critic. The losses are associated with SaskPower’s failure to deliver the promised volume of carbon dioxide to Cenovus, a Calgary-based oil producer for use as an enhanced oil recovery agent in their fields near Weyburn. Sproule maintained the actual losses to Cenovus would amount to about $12 million heaped on top of about $10 million in lost revenue due to the fact the BD3 carbon capture island and power generating unit was only operational for about 40 per cent of the allotted time. “We deserve to know when this plant will start working well enough to at least break even and stop driving us further into the hole every month. But the Sask Party can’t even tell us that. I want to remind them this is taxpayer and SaskPower customer money they’re losing here,” said Sproule. Since then, the NDP have called for the Crown and Central Agencies committee to meet quickly to examine
Premier Brad Wall the carbon capture project. The opposition stated that significant details about the plant’s shutdowns and revenue losses have been kept secret by the governing Saskatchewan Party. “The Sask Party hasn’t been honest with people and they got caught,” said Sproule. “It’s time to come clean, put the facts on the table and start working urgently on a go-forward plan to salvage as much as we can.” The committee referred to is a bipartisan standing committee of the legislature with authority to investigate matters related to Saskatchewan’s Crown corporations. It only meets at the call of government or if the legislative assembly votes in favour of calling it into action. SaskPower’s president and CEO, Mike Marsh along with Mike Monea, president of CCS initiatives and Premier Brad Wall were adamant in their defense of the Boundary Dam project. Marsh said due to confidentiality agreements con-
tained in their contract with the engineering and design lead contractor for the BD3 project, SNC Lavalin, he could not go into detail as to what the power company would be pursuing in terms of compensation. He agreed the legal wrangling with SNC Lavalin and possible other sub-contractors, could take time to resolve but all options were being pursued. “We do expect to recover these losses,” he said, referring to some original construction faults and the ensuing cash penalties that are being paid to Cenovus. The deal with Cenovus, he said, was a pretty typical, “take or pay contract,” so that if either party came up short, penalties would be imposed and since volume requirements were not met due to the late start-up at BD3, that clause kicked in. The plant was originally slated to begin operations in April of 2014, but didn’t get the green light until October. The first few months went well but in 2015, Marsh said, “we encountered a number of technical issues and BD3 is currently on overhaul. They are changing out some components and remedies are being pursued by SaskPower, SNC Lavalin and other contractors.” Marsh said he didn’t feel the overhaul and delays would affect decision-making regarding similar retrofits for Boundary Dam generating Units 4 and 5 which could be slated next. He said there is a good period of time before any decision has to be made on future carbon capture components and in the meantime the engineering responses have improved performances at the pilot site. “We expect to have one or two overhauls anyway each year, and we expect there will be a few more issues. There are some we expected that were dealt with and others that we didn’t know we would find, but we’re looking for improved performance.” International ⇢ A2
City releases results Former mayor John Len from citizen survey passes away By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
The results of the citizen satisfaction survey commissioned by the City of Estevan are out, and they show people are satisfied with many of the city’s efforts, but concerns linger about roads and taxes. Several hundred Estevan residents were contacted by Praxis Analytics in September to find their thoughts on the city’s strengths and weaknesses. Results for the survey were released on Friday afternoon. Respondents were asked to rate the city’s services on a scale of one to five, with questions focused on both performance and importance. Scores of one or two on the five-point scale indicated the response was negative. Responses of four or five reflected a positive perspective. A three was viewed as neutral. Praxis also asked questions that generated results based on percentages.
Roads and infrastructure were the biggest concern in the city, according to the final report from Praxis. “When asked unprompted, a solid majority (56.8%) of respondents cited roads, sidewalks and traffic as the leading concern. All other issues registered levels in single digits. “Taxes is the next highest, but with a much lower share of selections (at) 6.5 per cent. Economy and oil comes in at 5.8 per cent. Other issues received shares of less than five per cent.” The top three issues for quality of life were water quality, fire protection and crime. Of 12 factors tested using the fivepoint scale, water supply rated most important with a score of 4.58, followed by fire protection at 4.57 and dealing with crime at 4.55. Repairing streets and sidewalks came in fourth with a score of 4.36. Supporting arts and culture rated the lowest for importance with a score of 3.27. Survey ⇢ A2
Former Estevan mayor John Len died on Friday at the age of 74. Len was elected as mayor for the first time in 1994, when he defeated incumbent John Empey. Len was then re-elected via acclamation three years later. During his time as mayor, the city completed a number of important projects, including the Shirley Creek drainage project in northeast Estevan. Len’s time on council came to an end when he finished fourth in the 2000 mayoral election. He also had two threeyear terms as a city councillor, getting elected for the first time in 1988, and
re-elected three years later. In both elections, he finished first in the councillor race. Council was also busy during his six years as a councillor. The Souris Valley Aquatic and Leisure Centre was among the projects finished during that time. His final bid for council came in 2003, when he ran for a councillor’s post, but he was defeated. A former police officer, Len was presented with a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for his service, first in law enforcement and then as an elected official. Len is survived by his wife, Linda, his daughter Jamie (Clark) McLel-
John Len Circa 2012 land, grandsons Landon and Logan, sisters-in-law Elsie Len and Carol Kunysh, brother-in-law Nelson Fader, and numerous nieces and nephews. A private family graveside service for Len was held Nov. 2. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Hall Funeral Services in Estevan.
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