By Angela Brown

City happy to find new home for water pipeline

Mar 21, 2018 | 12:00 PM

The City of North Battleford is after finding a new home for the 3.5 kilometres of pipeline used to transport water from the Town of Battleford to supplement the city’s water system following the Husky Energy oil spill in July 2016.  

At its recent meeting, city council accepted the highest of four offers and sold the pipe to Lakeview Colony, in care of Anderson Pump House Ltd., for $1.60 per metre, a total of $5,600.

“We had no use for it, and the pipe can deteriorate if it’s not used over time,” Mayor Ryan Bater said. “We felt the best option was to liquidate it and to put it up for tender for sale.” 

In his report, Stewart Schafer, the city’s director of utility services, said new high-density polyethylene pipe usually sells for $16.40 per metre, but contractors won’t purchase used pipe because it doesn’t come with a manufacturer’s warranty.

The city used water from the town following the Husky spill because surface-water from the North Saskatchewan River couldn’t be used for the F.E. Holliday Water Treatment Plant. The city used the water pipeline from August of 2016 until late last summer. The pipe ran from beside the Battleford Town Hall down the hill, past the Battleford Flats, over Finlayson Island, over both bridges, then along Poundmaker Trail along Riverside Dr. to the F.E. Holliday Water Treatment Plant.

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The Husky oil spill occurred in the summer of 2016. A total of 225,000 litres of oil spilled from a crack in a section of pipe near Maidstone, about 160 metres from the banks of the North Saskatchewan River on July 21, 2016. While about 60 per cent of the spill was contained on land, the remainder entered the river. In 2016, Husky was able to recover about 210,000 litres, leaving about 15,000 litres left to locate. Husky completed a cleanup in the North Battleford area during the spring and summer in 2017 ensuring there were no traces from the blended crude oil spill. 

There was no cost to the town to supply the city with water during the period the pipeline was used because water costs were reimbursed by Husky Energy. Husky also covered the cost to provide the city with the pipeline. When the Husky cleanup project was over, Husky gave the pipe to the city to keep.

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW