The premier has visited two cities for the first time since an oil spill put their water supplies in jeopardy.
Brad Wall was in North Battleford Wednesday morning and Prince Albert that afternoon.
When speaking to media in Prince Albert, Wall said the province is unsure of what could have prevented 250,000 litres of Husky Energy oil making its way into the North Saskatchewan River. He said the province will launch its own investigation.
“We’re going to find out exactly what happened here,” he said. “There will be accountability as a part of that for the company and for government; everything will be transparent.”
Wall said he’s had to do a lot of myth-busting about reports that the pipeline that caused the oil spill hadn’t been inspected.
“Once a month there is … a remote device that travels up a pipeline to check for leaks, to make sure the pipeline is safe. This has happened with this particular pipeline,” he said.
According to the province, there have been 63 wildlife mortalities due to the Husky pipeline oil spill. Traditional activities like fishing have been halted by the spill. Wall dodged a question about help available for those who can’t fish right now.
“We have to worry about recreational use for the water,” he said. “I don’t think politicians should begin to make decrees about when we can be back on the water for recreational purposes or even for things like fishing. We need to rely on the science of this, we need to rely on our experts and those who are monitoring the water.”
Wall said environmental issues and water are a priority for Saskatchewan residents, and doesn’t believe public concerns about the effects of the spill have been overblown. This despite the fact that his response to the spill has been much-criticized.
Meanwhile, the City of Prince Albert is planning to work into the night because on Thursday its staff plans to provide a timeline to get businesses like car washes and water parks back into business.
The City, as well as Muskoday First Nation, have renewed their states of emergency due to the lack of a stable supply for safe drinking water.
But even though both Prince Albert and Muskoday are still in states of emergency, the risk of running out of water seems more acute for Muskoda. There are concerns about running out of its current water supply.
Wall is optimistic about Husky’s results from about 900 water testing sites, but said the government will err on the side of caution about starting to pull water from the North Saskatchewan River.
He met with leadership from the province, City of Prince Albert, surrounding Rural Municipalities, and First Nations on Wednesday.
Wall said his biggest takeaway from talks with First Nations is that they want safe water.
“They’re wanting to make sure that their members have safe water. And credit to them that they are, and so are we,” he said.
The City of Prince Albert confirms that its reservoir is sitting at 80 per cent full. It’s pulling from three alternate water sources at the moment.