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Issue 2
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
www.estevanmercury.ca
Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
Carbon capture decision may come later is expected to reach $50 per tonne of CO2 by 2022. The Saskatchewan government has been working on a fleet-wide equivalency agreement which would recognize our province’s clean coal efforts, including the $1.5 billion Boundary Dam Unit 3 Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage project (BD3). Of that $1.5 billion, approximately 40 per cent was the cost of rebuilding the coal-fired unit, and the remaining 60 per cent was the cost of the carbon capture system. Just a day before the summit, ATCO Ltd., a large power utility with two major coal-fired power plants in Alberta, indicated it isn’t going to wait until 2030 to phase out coal. Instead, it is going to convert its power plants to the use of natural gas by 2020. TransAlta, another Alberta coal-fired electrical power utility, has indicated its intention to do
By Brian Zinchuk brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net
For several years, SaskPower and government officials have indicated that a decision whether or not to go ahead with carbon capture on Boundary Dam Power Station Units 4 and 5 would be made later in 2017. However, in the fastchanging world of carbon dioxide regulation, that timeline may be in flux. During the Carbon Capture Summit held at Southeast College on May 11, SaskPower officials indicated it may now be several years from now when that decision is made. This revelation comes after much change in the regulatory environment which affects these decisions. The federal Liberal government has moved to impose a national carbon tax and to phase out coal production by 2030 across the country. That carbon tax
Roughly 40 people took part in tours of the Boundary Dam carbon capture plant, seen here, on May 11, as part of the Carbon Capture Summit. This was one of three tour groups who saw both the power plant and the carbon capture facility. the same by 2022. These actions, if carried out, will in turn eliminate the need for the coal mining supplying those plants, while increasing the demand for natural gas. Natural gas is a commodity which has spent much of that past
decade at a small fraction of the price it had been in the early 2000s. Ian Yeates, SaskPower’s director, supply development (Carbon Capture), spoke to the Carbon Capture Summit about the future of carbon capture and
Council approves asphalt tender $130,000 for Sister Roddy Road. City engineer Kiflom Weldeab told council on Monday night that if there was enough money left over, he would like to see King Street resurfaced from Arthur Avenue to Bannatyne Avenue, which means King Street would be resurfaced from Souris Avenue North to Pine Avenue this year. Weldeab believes the project from Arthur Avenue to Bannatyne Avenue could be completed for $100,000. After the meeting, Mayor Roy Ludwig said the undergrounds on King Street are in good shape for that portion of King Street. “This is a positive change,” said Ludwig. The city has already looked at the undergrounds for King Street from Arthur Avenue to Bannatyne Avenue, and they’ll take another look before moving forward. But it appears the PVC pipe is in place, as opposed to the older cast iron water mains. “With the PVC pipe that’s already in place, that’s
By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
It appears the City of Estevan might complete a larger portion of King Street this year than originally expected. Estevan city council awarded an asphalt tender to Souris Valley Paving for $406,465 at Monday night’s meeting. The tender calls for the resurfacing of King Street from Souris Avenue North to Arthur Avenue, as well as the gravel portion of Sister Roddy Road south of Wellock Road. The work is slated to begin on July 31 and end by Aug. 31. Council had already awarded the contract to widen and resurface King Street between Bannatyne Avenue and Pine Avenue earlier this year. The combined cost of the two projects on King Street, and the Sister Roddy Road resurfacing came in at around $900,000. The city had budgeted $1 million for work on King Street this year, and another
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less expense for us, so we’ll be able to go further with the money,” said Ludwig. The widening of King Street between Pine Avenue and Bannatyne Avenue is already underway. Once it is complete, two lanes of traffic will flow in each direction. The road will be resurfaced once the widening is complete. Ludwig said the project is proceeding well, and is on time. “In the last few days, we’ve hit quite a bit of soggy material that we’ll have to dig down, and put a proper clay base in, but it’s actually going pretty well,” said Ludwig. The issues are not related to precipitation the city has received since the widening project began. Ludwig said the problem is due to it being a low-lying area. “King, all the way over into Trojan, at one point, was a slough, and although it’s been built up over the years, it’s still maybe less than the very best material we could have there,” said
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Ludwig. “So we’ll have to upgrade that and put a proper base in, because … no roadway is complete without a proper base. It would continue to give us problems.” The widening and resurfacing of King Street is scheduled to be completed by the end of June. As for the Sister Roddy Road upgrades, Ludwig said the stretch of gravel road has been an “irritant” for local motorists for some time. Council believe this was an essential project to complete this year. “We were looking at a developer doing that, but … how long will that take until a developer starts to develop that area? No one knows,” said Ludwig. “So we thought rather than wait and have the discussions … down the road, let’s get it done.” It’s not a big area, and council believed they could get it done in conjunction with a larger paving project, namely King Street, and save some money.
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storage. His presentation spoke about the high variability in natural gas prices over time and alarming spikes in price, at one point hitting $17 per gigajoule. In comparison, long term pricing for coal is consistent and low. “We know what we’re paying for coal for an extended period of time,” Yeates said.
Decision⇢A2
Omaruyi case adjourned to June 12 A human smuggling case that attracted national attention earlier this year was briefly back in court at the Estevan Courthouse on Monday. Michelle Omaruyi’s case was adjourned to June 12. Omaruyi, 43, who resides in Regina, was not in court on Monday, but her lawyer was present. She has been charged with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling. Omaruyi was arrested on April 14 at a location between the North Portal and the Northgate border crossings. Nine foreign nationals from Nigeria, including five adults and four children, were intercept-
ed during the arrest. They were not injured and were safely transferred to the custody of the Canada Border Services Agency. They have since been released, and are claiming refugee status. The arrest was part of Project Fadduce, a four-month, ongoing investigation involving the RCMP Integrated Border Enforcement Team, Canada Border Services Agency, United States Customs and Border Protection – Office of the Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations, and Homeland Security Investigations. Estevan RCMP and Southeast Combined Traffic Services unit assisted investigators.
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Federal regulations were enacted July 1, 2015, requiring coal-fired power plants to be as clean as natural gas once individual units reached the age of 50 years, or they must be retired or retrofitted to the standards of a combined cycle natural gas plant.
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