Drowning victim found near Little Current

by Michael Erskine

LITTLE CURRENT---The body of a 46 year-old Lively man was located in the waters just outside Little Current on the morning of Saturday, August 14 completing the search by Ontario Provincial Police divers began a week earlier when he was reported lost near Bedford Island 2 pm Sunday, August 8.

Dan McLean, of Lively, was reported missing from the 'Dinosaur' just off Bedford Island after he reportedly went into the water to demonstrate the technique of body surfacing to the man accompanying him on the vessel.

Unable to hold onto the rope trailing from the Dinosaur, he slipped beneath the metre-high waves. His companion aboard the vessel, an inexperienced sailor, was unable to handle the vessel by himself or maneuver the sailboat back to where Mr. McLean was last seen.

The body was found four to five kilometers east of where the incident was thought to have occured.

by Neil Zacharjewicz

LITTLE CURRENT - The Manitoulin Health Centre became the first of the Network 11 hospitals to launch the Picture Archiving Communications System, the new digital system for X-rays that allows for communication between medical professionals over a secure Internet connection.

"It's unbelievable technology," stated Jim Van Camp, executive director of the Manitoulin Health Centre (MHC). "This is probably one of the biggest technological advances in hospitals in the last 10 years."

The Picture Archiving Communications System (PACS) is already online at the MHC's Little Current site, and will go live on September 1st at the Mindemoya hospital. There are several ways in which PACS will improve the hospitals' ability to deliver service. For one, it allows physicians improved ability to examine the X-rays.

"You can enhance the images," Mr. Van Camp said. He pointed out that images can be flipped, magnified, inverted and reversed instantaneously. From the digital X-ray, a physician can measure the size of internal organs, and if something on the X-ray is hard to see, they can alter the contrast to help them discern what they are looking at.

Doug Slaght, head of radiology at the MHC, noted that once a physician is happy with an image, they can make the image available to anyone who has the proper permission over the secure Internet connection.

"Sometimes they just want to share it with a colleague," Mr. Slaght explained. He noted where before two physicians would have to be in the same room to examine an X-ray, now they can do so from a computer. Already there are several dedicated computers throughout the hospital connected to PACS, including in the Emergency, X-ray and Physiotherapy departments, as well as in the doctor's clinic, in delivery, and on the 200 Floor. There is also access available for visiting clinicians. Also, if a patient heads off to see a specialist and forgets to take their X-ray with them, the specialist can access the image online.

Another major perk of PACS is that, because the images are digital, they can be stored on a computer. This means the hospital will no longer have to store the actual X-ray prints, which they currently store in a 15 foot by 16 foot room.

"It is a large amount of floor space," Mr. Slaght said.

As the images are digital, there is no longer a need to develop the prints, which means there will no longer be any developer or fixer, chemicals used in the development process, going into the sewage treatment plant.

"It is essentially a green system," Mr. Van Camp said. "It is really important for the environment in the long-term."

The new system eliminates the need for a lot of retakes, because the image can be enhanced, Mr. Van Camp pointed out. Also, for American patients who are headed for home, the hospital can cut them a CD with all of their X-ray information, so that they can share it with their family physician.

"It is a phenomenal system," stated Dr. Dieter Poenn. "It will really enhance our ability to read X-rays."

This will result in a marked improvement in a physicians ability to make a diagnosis, he noted. As well, he said that it will also make consultation with colleagues much easier.

The introduction of PACS is a cooperative venture between all of the hospitals in Network 11, which includes Espanola, Elliot Lake, Blind River and Sudbury. The equipment was first delivered to Manitoulin on March 31st, and over the last six weeks the system was installed at the hospital.

The total cost to install PACS at the MHC came to $1.2 million. A total of $500,000 was provided by FedNor, with an additional $200,000 coming from the Ontario government. Mr. Van Camp noted the hospital is campaigning for another $500,000, and already a number of the organizations that support the hospital have begun the fundraising effort. Still, many more donations will be needed before the system is paid off.

"Everybody on the Island will know what PACs means, hopefully by the end of the year," Mr. Van Camp said. "We are proud of it. The physicians are ecstatic."

by Michael Erskine

LITTLE CURRENT---News that the body of drowning victim Dan McLean, of Lively had been discovered by OPP diving crews outside Little Current brought a sad closure to a story of a community united in its efforts to rescue one of its own.

Bob Denniston, owner of the vessel 'Island Time' was the second boater on the scene, and the story he related to the Expositor is an uplifting one, for all of its unfortunate conclusion.

Mr. Denniston responded to the 1:30 pm mayday, and with the twin 225 hp. motors of the Island Time, he was on-site shortly after the frantic call from the distressed vessel went out.

"At first I didn't think it was a true mayday," said Mr. Denniston. "When I realized it was a true situation, I fired up and took off from Spider Bay. Ten to 15 minutes later I was on-site."

Within a few moments of his arrival as second boat on the scene, other boats began to appear, said Mr. Denniston, who began organizing the arrivals into a search grid.

"The real hero of the moment was Kevin Hartley, of Penetang aboard the Heart and Soul. "He got in his tender, left his wife at the tiller of his boat, and got aboard the Dinosaur, lowered the sails and anchored the boat."

The entire focus of the moment was to find Mr. McLean alive, and within 10 to 15 minutes there were nearly 10 boats in the search.

Local search and rescue coordinator Stan Ferguson was on a leisure cruise with his own family, and he instructed Mr. Denniston to continue with his efforts in setting up the search. Shortly thereafter, the Coast Guard search and rescue centre for the area in Thunder Bay contacted Mr. Denniston, relaying the coordinates they wanted for the search grid.

The cooperation and professionalism of everyone involved was outstanding, said Mr. Denniston.

"People listened to me and were willing to fall in line," he said. "The cooperation amongst these boaters was incredible, more and more boats kept coming on-line. Nobody was trying to do their own thing."

Even when Mr. Ferguson and other local search and rescue members Jim Bousquet and Pat Boyle arrived on the scene, they maintained the established chain, rather than disrupt the process that was in place.

"Stan was very wise in how he approached it," said Mr. Denniston admiringly, "he just fell in at one end of the grid while I worked from the other, and we hopscotched to various points in between."

The guidance from the Thunder Bay coast guard was also superb, he said. "After the first half hour, I was just a conduit."

Boaters from Illinois, the Sault, Florida, Orleans and even Rome, Italy, came out in a tremendous community effort that lasted well until dark.

The first order of business when there is a 'man overboard,' said Mr. Denniston, is to secure the boat and ensure the safety of all souls on board so there are no further losses.

"The person who made the call should keep their eyes on the spot where the person was last seen," he said. "In this case that wasn't possible because the gentleman was the only one on board. Due to his inexperience he wasn't able to finesse it back around."

In the same breath, said Mr. Denniston, the search for the person who has gone overboard should begin.

Although everyone responded exceptionally well in this instance, it turned out to be in vain.

by Neil Zacharjewicz

NORTHEASTERN MANITOULIN and the ISLANDS - The water system for Little Current may be leaking as much as 1,000 cubic metres of water per day, but council for the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands has developed a plan to locate the leaks.

On Monday, August 16th, council held an emergency meeting to consider some immediate action with regard to the water problem in the town. Council voted in favour of implementing a plan developed by Roads Superintendent Glen Case, which will see the water in Little Current shut down between midnight and 5 am on Thursday, August 19th, as town crews take readings to try and determine where the leaks in the system may be occurring. As well, council has also voted in favour of retaining a firm to come in and look for leaks in the water system.

"I think we are committed to fixing the leaks," stated Councillor Sam Nardi.

"I think that is priority number one over the next couple of weeks," agreed Mayor Joe Chapman.

Council first learned of the possible leaks at its regular meeting of council held on Wednesday, August 11th, after discussion arose over the water treatment plant's ability to provide for future development. Clerk-Treasurer Ned Martin brought to council's attention documentation suggesting that leaks existed within the system, causing the loss of an estimated 1,000 cubic metres of water per day.

"It is bleeding out of the distribution system," stated Mr. Martin. He explained he had discovered the evidence of the leak after doing some research on the data from the Little Current water treatment plant, as well as looking at an old engineering report on the water system prepared in 1991 by CH2M Gore and Storrie Ltd. At that time, Gore and Storrie reported that the Little Current water system was leaking an estimated 800 cubic metres per day, but that figure does not take into account the capacity of the current plant, which was opened in 2000.

Several days after the meeting, Mayor Chapman indicated he was in communication with Ed Bond, former clerk for the Town of Little Current, who indicated that the town had fixed 14 leaks in the system in 1991.

"The question is, are there more leaks? From what everyone says I suppose there are. Why is there no program to test for these leaks on a regular basis? Is this something council always needs to remind staff of, or did council fail to act on staff advice?" Mayor Chapman questioned.

Still, there is reason to believe that leaks still exist in the system. At the August 16th meeting, Mr. Martin explained to council that, in late July, the water treatment plant was distributing 1,875 to 2,000 cubic metres of water per day. That volume increased to 2,300 cubic metres for the period of August 4-6th, but tapered off after council issued a ban on outdoor watering. As a comparison, Mr. Martin decided to examine data for the slowest period of the year, and chose a date in January. What he discovered was that, during the slowest period of the year when no one is watering their lawns, the water system was pumping out 1,160 cubic metres of water per day.

News of the leakage came as a surprise to council.

"I think this is a wake-up call," stated Councillor Bill Koehler.

The issue of the water treatment plant's capacity came up when Councillor Nardi put forward a motion to implement a moratorium on the issuing of building permits for new structures to be connected to the Little Current water system until the town's water production problem could be addressed.

Mayor Joe Chapman pointed out this marked the third time in four years that the town had problems with its water distribution system in the summer.

It was noted by Councillor Nardi that the Manitoulin Health Centre (MHC) had to fly patients out to other hospitals due to the low water pressure. However, Councillor Marcel Gauthier disputed this suggestion, noting only one patient was flown out, and the hospital did not need to take that action. He said he had spoken with MHC Executive Director Jim Van Camp and water treatment plant operator George Dobbs, and "with a snap of the fingers" the town could have increased the water pressure to the hospital.

"This was like a comedy of errors," Councillor Gauthier stated. "That problem could have been nipped in the bud immediately."

Still, Councillor Nardi indicated the decrease in water pressure presented problems for the town's fire protection services. Furthermore, due to the recent Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) decision to allow for the construction of a 90-unit hotel at Low Island, another major building would be added to the water system.

"We really need to address this water problem," Councillor Nardi said. With regard to the OMB decision, he noted that the decision included the statement that the hotel could proceed due, in part, to "the Town's confirmed municipal water and sewage systems capacity."

"How are we going to feed this hotel?" Councillor Nardi said. He asked who had confirmed the water system's capacity.

"It wasn't me," Mayor Chapman stated.

Mr. Martin explained the figure came from an Environmental Study Report prepared by Gore and Storrie in 1991, which was based on an estimated population increase from 1,400 people to 1,930 people. He noted that, currently, the population accessing the system totals 1,500 people.

"There is room within the design capacity for another 400 people," Councillor Jim Stringer noted.

Mayor Chapman questioned whether the town had ever achieved the capacity it had been promised from the new water treatment plant.

"We've had three failures of the system in four years," he said.

It was noted by Councillor Tony Ferro, chair of the Public Works Committee, that the average national consumption of water per household per day is 400 litres. He noted the residents on the Little Current water system are averaging 750 litres per day.

"That is twice the national average," he said. He indicated the volume suggested an enormous amount of leaks, some of which the town managers had confirmed for him as fact. He said it was important the town find out where those leaks are and how much water the town is losing.

"Let's get our act in order first," Councillor Ferro said.

"That plant can produce the water. There is something drastically wrong," Councillor Gauthier said. "There has to be a problem. The only problem I can see is massive leakage."

At the same time, Councillor Gauthier said that problems with the water system was not a reason to deny people building permits. Furthermore, he admitted he had heard Mayor Chapman on CBC Radio blaming past council for the problems with the water system.

"Past council was pretty competent," Councillor Gauthier stated. "That water treatment plant is the Cadillac of water treatment plants."

But Mayor Chapman said that he had an email from Mr. Dobbs indicating that there was a problem. In his email, Mr. Dobbs stated, "There is no way that plant can keep up with prolonged waste of production. The water consumption in Little Current is a challenge to that plant year round because the membrane system looses permeability in cold water. The plant should have been twice the size and an elevated storage system should be required for any new system."

"How do we deal with this problem?" Mayor Chapman asked.

Councillor Stringer noted the previous council had taken steps to reduce the consumption of water by initiating the introduction of water metres. He said while the idea was not popular, it is a known fact that water metres substantially reduce consumption.

"This is a problem, not a crisis," he added.

Statistics show water metres reduce consumption by 30 to 40 percent, Councillor Gauthier pointed out. He added that he had concerns about the suggestion the hospital might have to close if the hotel proposal was to proceed.

"It looks very negative on council," he said.

But, following the meeting, Mayor Chapman said that he has been told that the reserve set aside to fix the town's water line system was largely used to finance the new plant and therefore there wasn't enough money to fix the leaks.

"We also know from Councillor Stringer that the town needed to conserve water, despite the fact that we had a big new plant with all kinds of capacity," Mayor Chapman stated. "This seems to be consistent with the whole 'master plan' to install water metres. Why install water metres instead of fixing the leaks? Water metres don't fix leaks. Instead of stating that everyone in town was using too much water, why didn't the previous council state that consumption was high because of leaks? Why didn't they fix the leaks? Apparently everyone is not using two times the national average, as has been stated. Our water has been pouring into the ground for years. I think the community deserves an apology for being wrongly accused of being water wasters."

After Mr. Martin delivered the news of the leaks to council, he noted that the fire protection services would not have been in jeopardy by the reduction in water pressure, pointing out that the trucks are equipped to draw water in times of low pressure.

"As long as there is a quantity of water available, the trucks are equipped to deliver it," Mr. Martin said. He added that while there was a problem that occurred in 2001, it was an issue related to capacity, not water pressure.

If capacity were an issue, Councillor Koehler noted, the two could secure two more membranes and activate the two unused cells, increasing the water treatment plant's capacity by 15 percent. He said one of the real issues is that the town does not have sufficient operators. While there are four members of town staff trained to operate the plant, two of them are on sick leave, he noted. Furthermore, at the time the plant went down, Mr. Dobbs was out flying.

"It would not have failed on (August 8th) if we had an operator," Councillor Koehler said.

But Mayor Chapman said all he could do is believe what Mr. Dobbs had told him.

"I've got to believe what he says," he stated.

"We knew about this problem back in 1991. Why was it not addressed?" Councillor Ferro asked.

Mr. Martin pointed out he could not answer that question because it dated back to before amalgamation, when he was clerk for the Township of Howland.

"Let's not pass buck around here," Councillor Gauthier said.

It was noted that while the Little Current water treatment plant might be the Cadillac of water treatment systems, "you can't just maintain it once every five years."

With half the output from the plant running into the ground, Mr. Martin suggested the town needs to scrutinize the lines. If the problem is still not apparent, then a pressure test would have to be conducted.

"We know we have a problem here," Councillor Ferro said, suggesting the town needs to bring someone in and have it addressed.

"Where is all of this money going to come from?" Councillor Sam Nardi asked. "I don't know how we are going to do a budget next year with all of these extra costs."

He pointed out the town undertook two $12 million projects in the last few years, with the Little Current water treatment plant and the new landfill site. In both cases, he suggested, the projects had been "bungled."

"Let's quit beating around the bush," stated Councillor Gary Green. He suggested the town figure out the problem and get on with business. He said the town was sending out a poor message to community about development by considering cutting off building permits.

"I think we should stop pointing fingers at this point and get on with solving the problem," he said.

But Mayor Chapman said he did not want to exacerbate the problem by issuing building permits for new buildings to be connected to the system. He suggested the town should wait until the problem is fixed, then begin issuing building permits again.

Councillor Marcel Gauthier said it could be several years before the problem is fixed, and he questioned why the town would tell people who had bought property within the service area of the water treatment plant that they could not build until after the system was fixed. He noted that the plant can produce all of the water the town needs.

"Call a vote on this thing," Councillor Green said.

It was Councillor Nardi's suggestion that perhaps the town could put a time limit on how long they would disallow the issuing of the building permits, perhaps for two to three months.

"Let's get down to brass tacks. Let's rectify the problem," Councillor Ferro said.

Councillor Green indicated that perhaps, to alleviate the draw on the system, a pump could be placed at the pumping station to supply farmers with water for their cattle. However, Councillor Gauthier said that there might be an issue if anyone decided to use it as potable water, creating some liability for the town.

One question posed by Mayor Chapman was how the town intended to deal with the $400,000 cost of addressing the leaks in the system. Councillor Ferro suggested the cost could be put over to 2005, and the town could use some of the money it had in reserves to address the immediate problem. He added that he did not believe in the need for a moratorium on building permits, noting that there was not a long line-up at the municipal office looking for building permits anyway.

Councillor Jim Stringer requested a recorded vote on the issue of the building permits. Councillors Nardi and Jib Turner, as well as Mayor Chapman, voted in favour of a moratorium on building permits for new buildings to be connected to the Little Current water system. Councillors Tom Batman, Ferro, Gauthier, Green, Koehler and Stringer voted against the motion, and it was declared defeated.