LAC LA BICHE - Municipal staff working closely with the community's water and wastewater systems though the recent flooding that has caused road closures, seen the implementation of a State of Local Emergency and evacuations of area residents, say their system, and staff, have performed exceptionally well.
Setting the record straight on the partially under repair waste management plant and the continuing efforts to reduce flood and utility issues, Lac La Biche County staff spoke to the POST on Tuesday afternoon. Public Works manager Brian Shapka, Water and Sewer utility foreman John Skjervsen, communications manager Jihad Moghrabi and director of Emergency Management John Kokotilo took time from their duties at the municipality's Incident Command Post to assure the public that everything that can be done, is being done.
Although one 'cell' of the two-cell plant is not operating as it should due to an ongoing issue, it doesn't necessarily mean the plant is operating at half capacity, they say. And although it is working at a reduced capacity, it still easily managed the massive increase in flow during the week of heavy rains that caused overland flooding and saturated ground.
"It is working under capacity. It was definitely over-designed," said Skjervsen.
Around the clock
Shapka said the plant has continued to perform well — but during the height of the rainfall, it was the lift stations that were areas for increased attention. The stations, which lift the flow from incoming sewer lines to the municipality's main lines heading to the wastewater treatment plant, were working a top capacity dealing with infiltration of groundwater and increased wastewater dicharge from area homes and busineses.
Upwards of 80 Lac La Biche County staff have been working in shifts around the clock over the last week to maintain the water flows and keep general operations as smooth as they could be during an emergency situation. The public also had a big role to play during the worst days of the week. Municiapal officials issued a water use restriction, advising residents to restrict all non-essential water use, and Shapka said the public has helped to keep systems in balance.
"They did a fantastic job in helping us to slow down the water," said Shapka.
Kokotilo ays the long first week of the emergency was made easier by the cooperation of municipal staff, community members and the provincial crews.
"It was great to see just how well all of our departments worked together, and how well we all functioned... it was all very trying for us and the community ... but we all worked very, very well together."
Recent emergency practice
Moghrabi said the quick move to emergency management was made easier because many on staff at the municipality have been through some similar challenges recently.
"It reminded me a bit of the Fort McMurray fire evacuation," he said, adding that staff do have emergecy response training, but coping with a real event helps them be better prepared.
The 2016 Fort McMurray forest fire saw tens of thousands of residents from the northern community evacuated as a forest fire swept towards them. Many of the evacuees found shelter and support in Lac La Biche County, which became an official provincial emergency evacuation centre. "That event gave a lot of county staff their first tase of a real emergency incident ... staff were falling back into some of the same roles ... It's not easy — but we knew a lot of what to expect and it has helped us respond more effectively as a municipality."
On Wednesday afternoon, Lac La Biche County was still under a State of Local Emergency. Almost all of the 85 people forced to evacuate their homes last Sunday night had returned to their residences. Two families in homes near the wastewater treatment plant were still not allowed to return. More residents in an area north of Lac La Biche Lake along a portion of the Old Conklin Trail were also given mandatory evacuation orders on Tuesday night as floodwaters were washing out portions of the gravel road and parts of the bridge network.
