Residents fear automation at Grand Rapids dam

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This article was published 10/05/2019 (2673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The mayor of Grand Rapids and the chief of Misipawistik Cree Nation are raising the alarm over the pending automation of the hydroelectric facility that looms 40 metres above their communities.

Grand Rapids Mayor Robert Buck said area officials were recently informed the Manitoba Hydro generating station, which operates a 24-hour supervised schedule, will soon be partially automated.

Once the changes are implemented, there will be no staff at the facility for more than 12 hours each day: from 5:20 p.m. to 7 a.m.

“There had been some talk about this before, but it had never gone any further than just talk. Then they started implementing these plans and they had not consulted the community or the local governments here,” Buck said Friday.

“People are concerned for their safety. Is there going to be enough time, or enough things in place should there be a breach in the dam. Will we have ample warning?”

The generating station is on the Saskatchewan River, roughly 430 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. It has been in operation since 1968.

If there were a serious breach of the dam, in a worst-case scenario, both communities — which have a combined population of 1,500 — would be wiped off the map, Buck said.

Emergency situations aren’t unknown at the facility. In March 1992, a turbine cap failure resulted in the first four floors of the station flooding within seconds. A potential disaster was averted after an employee was able to quickly cut off the floodwater.

Buck and Misipawistik Chief Harold Turner have demanded Manitoba Hydro suspend all work on automating the facility until the communities’ fears are addressed.

Hydro spokesman Bruce Owen said the automation of a hydroelectric facility — be it on a part-time or full-time basis — is not new.

He said there are already several facilities in the province that use off-site monitoring and remote control systems.

“In the case of Grand Rapids, it’s important to know that Manitoba Hydro staff continues to be located at the site, even in off-hours, living in the on-site staff house located less than a kilometre away from the station itself,” Owen said.

“These are the same people who staff the station during the day. Their response time to any emergency is measured in a few minutes.”

Owen also said the Crown utility has been in contact with the leadership from both the town and First Nation and will continue to update them during the automation process.

“All safety concerns raised by the community have been reviewed and are being managed,” Owen said.

In addition to safety concerns, Misipawistik Cree Nation has claimed Hydro plans to put up physical barriers around the dam, which will cut off access to sacred and ceremonial sites.

Turner did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

“We are working with the community to ensure that access to sacred sites is maintained, without compromising the security of the station or the safety of community members,” Owen said.

He added the move to automation is in “the best interests of all our customers” and doesn’t “compromise the safety of Manitobans and the safety of our employees.”

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe