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Hydro to meet with
Northeast Development Committee over outages
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by Michael Erskine
NORTHEASTERN MANITOULIN AND THE ISLANDS (NEMI)---Electricity outages
have wreaked havoc on local businesses through the past summer, and
the long delays to repair the problems have left local politicians
and businessmen fuming.
The NEMI Community Development Corporation attempted to gain a
meeting with officials at Hydro One in order to get some answers as
to Hydro One's long term capital and maintenance plans, and to air
their concerns to officials directly.
Although Hydro One's initial response was a letter, dated August 15,
outlining the causes of recent outages and Hydro One's plans for the
future, the impersonal response left much to be desired.
CDC officials enlisted the help of Algoma Manitoulin MPP Mike Brown's
office, and the result is that senior Hydro One officials will be
meeting with Mr. Brown and the CDC in a meeting, tentatively
scheduled for 10 am on September 27.
"It is pretty obvious why we need this meeting," said Mr. Brown. "We
have been experiencing significant problems over the past few months.
My office has received a huge number of calls on the issue. We need
to get some answers."
CDC spokesman Gary Green was unavailable for comment by press time.
Hydro One spokesperson Deb Hutton, while apologizing for the
inconvenience of the outages, indicated in her letter to Mr. Green
that the July 8 and 21 outages were due to inclement weather, over
which even Hydro One has no control.
Still, by Ms. Hutton's own statistics, 43 per cent of outages occur
because of equipment failure, 28 per cent to trees and only 13 per
cent to lightning.
"These statistics may, however, understate the overall impact of
lightning, since two of the lightning related outages affected over
5,000 customers," wrote Ms. Hutton.
The remote location and difficulty of reaching damaged equipment has
added considerably to the delay in completing repairs and restoring
power.
Hydro One Networks operates 1,335 kilometers of line in the
Manitoulin area and vegetation management is an area in which the
company says it spends a considerable amount of attention.
Line clearing has increased significantly recently, according to the
company, and Hydro One has recently completed a comprehensive
forestry asset condition assessment program.
Approximately $6 million will have been spent in the area to address
forestry issues between 1995 and 2004, according to Ms. Hutton. She
also wrote that Hydro One is close to reaching an eight-year clearing
cycle, following general practice in Northern Ontario.
In addition, Ms. Hutton wrote, the 2002 pole maintenance program will
see 3,000 distribution poles tested in the area.
In 2001, over $500,000 worth of pole replacements occurred on feeder
lines to Manitoulin Distribution Station, Little Current Distribution
Station, West Bay Distribution Station and the Bay Estates area.
Increased programs of equipment maintenance and replacement will
require more planned outages than in the past.
Since 85 per cent of the recent outages have been linked to the Birch
Island Distribution Station distribution line, close attention has
been paid to that line. Some 15 to 20 per cent of the equipment on
poles throughout the Killarney bound line will be replaced over the
next two years.
The bottom line as far as Island business is concerned however, is
that electric power is not as dependable as it needs to be, whatever
Hydro One Networks statistics may read.
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INAC, M'Chigeeng
close to agreement on funding
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by Neil Zacharjewicz
M'CHIGEENG - Government funding may continue to flow to the
M'Chigeeng First Nation.
Susan Hare, counsel for the M'Chigeeng First Nation, indicated the
band and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) may reach an
agreement to keep funding flowing to the First Nation while the two
parties present their case in the battle over the M'Chigeeng custom
election.
On July 18, Justice Douglas Campbell ruled that the case was much
more varied than simply dealing with the band's custom election, and
allowed M'Chigeeng to bring forward larger action against INAC. He
proposed the band challenge Section 74 of the Indian Act, which deals
with election power. He also ruled that INAC would have until the end
of August to contact M'Chigeeng and make arrangements for continued
funding to the First Nation.
Ms. Hare explained until the end of August, INAC offered M'Chigeeng
only two options: enter into a third party agreement or call for an
election under INAC rules. Instead, M'Chigeeng filed a motion in
court on August 27 stating INAC was intimidating the band by
withholding its funding.
"As soon as we filed the motion, they finally wanted to talk to us,"
Ms. Hare said. "We have been having very good discussions."
Ms. Hare explained M'Chigeeng and INAC are looking at negotiating a
Contribution Administration Agreement, under which Alfred Debassige,
the band administrator, and Penny Roy-Corbiere, head of finances for
the band, and both of which were named as trustees for the band
approximately one year ago in order to continue the flow of funding
to the band, would now become employees of a company or corporation
which would be responsible for the continued flow of funding to
M'Chigeeng.
Ms. Hare indicated a preliminary agreement has been drawn up for
consideration, and the final agreement could be reached as early as
Wednesday, September 18. If the agreement were to proceed, then
M'Chigeeng would withdraw the motion filed in court on August 27.
"Council has always said, 'We do not want our band members to suffer
financially,'" Ms. Hare pointed out. "The band says it wants to argue
the self-government question, but it did not want the band members to
suffer for it."
With the issue of the band's finances out of the way, Ms. Hare said
M'Chigeeng can then proceed with the issue of its custom election
before the courts. She noted examinations have already been completed
for the case, which she expects to be heard before the end of
September.
"It is another step for us to the positive side," stated Chief Glen
Hare, with regard to the news of the Contribution Administration
Agreement.
"I do not know why they are taking us to the end of our rope on every
item," he said. He explained M'Chigeeng's concern was with the
recognition of its custom election, and finances were not an issue
until INAC made it a problem. As a result, the band has found itself
wasting its time and effort on an unrelated issue instead of dealing
with the issue at hand: the election.
"I wish we could get to the heart of the business on this election,"
Chief Hare said. "We are hanging in there. We are going to see this
through to the end."
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Northeast
landfill delayed again
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by Michael Erskine
NORTHEASTERN MANITOULIN AND THE ISLANDS (NEMI)---A leaking landfill
is a nightmare the NEMI Landfill Operations Committee does not want
to face; and they are hoping the purchase of a new cell wall liner
will buy some peace of mind.
"We all want to build the best landfill site we can," said committee
Chair Ron Lewis, as the committee voted unanimously to purchase the
$12,897 Bentofix liner, a purchase which is 'almost guaranteed' to
solve a leak in the landfill cell which has the council concerned
about future safety and liability at the site.
The NEMI Landfill Operations Committee gathered for a meeting last
Thursday morning to consider a recommendation from Burnside and
Associates, the consultants overseeing the construction of the town's
new landfill site. The Burnside report was in response to inquiries
made by NEMI Clerk Treasurer Ned Martin.
The main storage cell in the landfill site has failed to retain water
for more than three days, leading first to a reduction in the cell
capacity, as the layer of clay lining the cell was increased, then to
the application of a liner around a leachate manhole which was
apparently the source of a leak, and now council hopes leaking from
the cell walls will be halted by the installation of a liner.
Although the cell is not 100 per cent water tight, it does meet all
Ministry of Environment regulations, and could legally open at any
time as it is. The landfill site was designed as a natural
attenuation site, with the land soaking up and retaining any leachate
over an extended period of time, and was not originally intended to
be completely water tight.
As the NEMI Landfill Operations Committee increases the sealing
around the cell, ensuring no leachate leaves the site, the
accumulation of water increases, with the result that the committee
will have to deal with the water sooner than originally planned.
"The further we go to tighten up, the sooner we have to deal with the
leachate's larger numbers," said Mr. Martin. "If it is going to be
tighter, it will fill sooner. We have to be prepared to deal with
that. We also have to take every opportunity to limit water going
into the cell."
The increased impermeability of the cell will mean a holding tank
will have to be purchased, and the means of disposing of the leachate
will have to be resolved years earlier than originally supposed.
"The original plan called for delay of the leachate problem for four
or five years," said Mr. Martin. "We may need to deal with it sooner."
The committee will have to determine if the town's sewage lagoons are
capable of disposing of the leachate safely, and, whether the excess
capacity of the lagoons should be used for that purpose, or whether
that capacity should be held for future expansion of the town.
Another option would be the construction of a leachate treatment site
below the landfill.
Any liability stemming from a leachate leak at the landfill which
contaminated any surrounding wells or waterways would fall on the
town, and it is to limit the possibility of such liability that the
committee has gone to the lengths it has, noted Mr. Lewis.
"We have to conduct due diligence," he said.
Although the consultants and engineers advising the committee have
asserted the landfill meets all legal requirements, the NEMI Landfill
Operations Committee members appear to be looking for ironclad
assurances, and the careful qualifications of the consultants are
leaving them nervous.
As councillor Carl Ziegler noted however, if the decision to open the
site is not made soon, the opening may have to wait until spring.
The Landfill Operations Committee can make spending decisions of up
to $10,000 without going to council as a whole, and although the
liner will cost in excess of $12,000, the actual cost of the
additional liner will fall to around $8,000 when funds previously
voted to correct leak problems are taken into account.
The new liner has been ordered and should be essentially a 'weekend' job.
The Landfill Operations Committee recommendations were to be brought
forward at yesterday's town council meeting.
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