MINISTER WARNED RISK OF NORTH SPUR COLLAPSE

Guest Post by Cabot Martin
Work has
recently started on Nalcor’s North Spur “stabilization” construction activities
at the Muskrat Falls Project. So far, this has involved the stripping of trees
on the upstream and downstream sides of the North Spur and the use of heavy
excavation equipment .
The North Spur
is known to be unstable and such activities can only heighten the risk of
collapse.
As a result,
there is presently a serious risk for a North Spur collapse.

The North Spur
effectively impounds a considerable amount of water stretching back 35 miles to
Gull Island; in addition a North Spur collapse would involve a very large
amount of liquefied Quick Clay both from the North Spur itself and from the
immediate up slope area back to the Trans Labrador Highway and from upstream areas
as the river cuts a new channel by-passing Muskrat Falls.


Such a collapse
has the potential for catastrophic impacts on property and lives in Happy
Valley-Goose Bay and Mud Lake.
Nalcor has not
made public a risk assessment of this danger; all released Nalcor “dam break“
analyses have been restricted to the proposed concrete dams on the south side
of the Lower Churchill River.
Lacking a Risk
assessment there is no Emergency Preparedness Plan.





On July 2,2015,
I hand delivered the attached urgent letter to the office of the Provincial
Minister responsible for dam safety, the Honourable Dan Crummell, Minister of
Environment & Conservation; no reply has yet been received.




Urgent action is
required.
————————————————————
July 2, 2015
The Honourable Dan Crummell
Minister of Environment and Conservation
4th Floor, West Block
Confederation Building
St. John’s, NL   A1B 4J6
Dear Mr. Minister:
I am writing on an urgent basis concerning the North Spur instability issue at
the Muskrat Falls power development of the Lower Churchill River in Labrador
and your responsibilities under the Water Resources Act
SNL2002 c W-4.01 as
amended (“the Act”) in relation to Dam Safety.

I wrote to your predecessor, the
Honourable Joan Shea on March 14, 2014, on this general matter and received a
reply from Minister Dalley dated May 14, 2014. This letter will not repeat my
arguments made there which still seem valid in spite of Minister Dalley’s reply.

Indeed, it is the core of Minister
Dalley’s reply that I wish to address
– namely that a “Dam Safety Review
Report “ and an “Emergency Preparedness Plan” need not be prepared and filed
for approval until impoundment takes place or is imminent – presumably pushing
off such matters until around 2017.

This position serves to place the residents of
Happy Valley Goose Bay and Mud Lake at great risk during North Spur
“stabilization” activities without the benefit of an Emergency Preparedness
Plan.

This is totally unacceptable and a
dereliction of your statutory Ministerial duties.

Based on a picture taken in the last week or so from
the Trans Labrador Highway,
it is
apparent that Nalcor’s “stabilization” activities on the North Spur have
started with the partial, and presumably on-going, stripping of trees from the
top and sides of the North Spur.


This presumably will be followed by the
extensive use of heavy excavation and construction equipment.

Page 1 of 3

Both these activities have the potential
to destabilize the North Spur during so-called “stabilization” construction activities.

For instance, the denudation of the
North Spur has exposed the unstable soil of the North Spur to the erosional effects
of sudden, prolonged thunder showers at this time of the year.
Any resulting North Spur collapse would release
the tremendous amount of water presently “impounded” upstream by the North Spur
– which acts, as Nalcor has repeatedly said, as
a “natural dam”. 

Such a collapse would also likely involve the
liquefaction of millions of cubic meters of Quick Clay both at the North Spur
and along the river as the Lower Churchill cuts out a new channel
, by-passing Muskrat Falls and extending (based
on relative elevations and river bottom soil conditions) in a deepened river
valley all the way back, or a good part of the way back, to Gull Island. 

This would have an incalculable and devastating impact
on the lives and property of downstream residents.

And furthermore, it has been reliably reported
that a “major slippage in the excavation works” at the Muskrat Falls project  has already taken place. I strongly urge you
to investigate this matter to see if any such slippage took place and whether
or not the North Spur was involved. 


Due to the blanket of secrecy that
Nalcor has thrown over the whole Muskrat Falls project only a Ministerial
investigation can determine whether or not such slippage has taken place.

But I must stress that the need for an Emergency
Preparedness Plan for a North Spur collapse during Nalcor’s “stabilization”
activities remains whether or not any such “slippage” has already taken place.

One obviously cannot wait until a
reasonably foreseeable accident takes place before preparing an Emergency Preparedness
Plan.

An independent, focused and effective on-going
on-site 24/7 North Spur collapse monitoring system under your Ministerial
guidance is urgently needed tied into a proper effective Emergency Preparedness
Plan
.

Nalcor has already admitted that,even in
its natural unaltered state, the North Spur is unstable and at risk of
collapse; its current construction activities can only serve to make the North
Spur even more unstable – at the very least while the “stabilization” measures
are being put in place.

Page 2 of 3

So I ask — where is the Emergency Preparedness
Plan that is urgently needed to protect the residents of Happy Valley Goose Bay
and Mud Lake should a North Spur collapse take place during the present “stabilization”
construction activities?

This is obviously a matter not just for onsite
worker safety but also involves all downstream residents. And no Emergency
Preparedness plan can be effective if not made public and adequately
communicated.

You have the jurisdiction and duty to act
under your “Safety of Works” oversight duties under Section 44 of the Act and
your right to issue Dam Safety directives under sub-section 44(3).
I also refer to the requirement under Section
48 of the Act that all persons wishing to construct a dam must file an
application in the form set out in Schedule C 
which must contain both a “Dam Safety Review Report “ and an “Emergency
Preparedness Plan”.

These
critical documents focus on such issues
as:

(1)  the
amount of warning time
downstream inhabitants would have before the onrush
of water and liquefied mud from a North Spur failure hits the Happy Valley-
Goose Bay / Mud Lake area –  a factor
that greatly determines the potential for downstream loss of life;
(2) the probable area that would be flooded/buried; and
(3) the probable consequences of such a flood/mud flow in terms of both financial
loss and loss of life.

It must be emphasized that the sudden
onrush of the combined flood of liquefied North Spur “Quick Clay” together with,
and driven by, the release of the presently naturally impounded river water could
have an entirely different and potentially far more devastating character and
impact from that that of a concrete dam failure.
Yours truly,
Cabot Martin

cc  Mr. Jamie Chippett, Deputy Minister,
Environment and Conservation NL
Page 3 of 3
___________________________________

Cabot Martin writes from St. John’s

REMEMBERING BILL MARSHALL

Bill left public life shortly after the signing of the Atlantic Accord and became a member of the Court of Appeal until his retirement in 2003. During his time on the court he was involved in a number of successful appeals which overturned wrongful convictions, for which he was recognized by Innocence Canada. Bill had a special place in his heart for the underdog.

Churchill Falls Explainer (Coles Notes version)

If CFLCo is required to maximize its profit, then CFLCo should sell its electricity to the highest bidder(s) on the most advantageous terms available.

END OF THE UPPER CHURCHILL POWER CONTRACT: IMPROVING OUR BARGAINING POWER

This is the most important set of negotiations we have engaged in since the Atlantic Accord and Hibernia. Despite being a small jurisdiction we proved to be smart and nimble enough to negotiate good deals on both. They have stood the test of time and have resulted in billions of dollars in royalties and created an industry which represents over a quarter of our economy. Will we prove to be smart and nimble enough to do the same with the Upper Churchill?

9 COMMENTS

  1. This is an interesting note

    And furthermore, it has been reliably reported that a “major slippage in the excavation works” at the Muskrat Falls project has already taken place

    As Cabot Martin points out, if there is even a rumor of soil instability then the minister, and Nalcor need to provide a public briefing to those who live downstream.

    Public silence and government inaction has plagued this project since the beginning.

    However, this is not only a money issue. If there is ever a loss of life, then the minister could be negligent in his duties for not stopping the work (with fair warning provided).

    I am not sure how the Minister or Nalcor can not respond to this letter.

    Really we should have the Engineer of Record from SNC respond to this letter as well.

    Where are the union leaders on this issue?

    • Cabot Martin has asked me to post the following reply to the previous commentator:

      Don't know who you are A but don't appreciate your BS. There is/was nothing "metaphorical" about my reference to slippage nor about the very real risk of North a Spur collapse. – Cabot Martin

    • You know who I am Cabot. I also thought the slippage referred to falling behind schedule. It may have been an unfortunate metaphor from the Nalcor Bozo's but about par for their arrogant, smug attitude.

      Do you have evidence of a physical slippage or any indication from Nalcor? If not you best focus on clearly documented problems and secrecy around contracts that even business organizations want released and have stated are in the best interest of all concerned to be released.

      This seems like fertile ground for a serious legal beagle to investigate, put your amended FOI act to the test and design a media campaign around the refusal to release. Know any Cabot?

  2. The government and Nalcor probably think the potential loss of a few Native resident lives a positive outcome. I bet if Ed Martin or Dan Crummell lived downstream a emergency plan would be in place.

  3. I have had some experience with issues of "resonant frequencies". In short , all bodies have a natural frequency, which can be disturbed by relatively small forces of that same frequency and made unstable. The typical example is the small push of a child on a swing, at the right time makes the height of the swing go higher and higher to a dangerous level.
    So likewise the soil at the North Spur has a natural frequency. This soil can be disturbed by mechanical equipment, if the vibration is of the right intensity and frequency. Because of the nature of quick clay, this increases the risk of the soil collapse, which would not happen elsewhere under such disturbances. Cabot Martin is right, there is significant risk.

  4. As to my comment above, In 1979, I demonstrated to the designer of the Taxation Data Centre here in St John's that the very heavy concrete "floating floor" (a sound proofing floor) would be subject to resonant frequency disturbances and present a danger. This was eventually accepted as sound engineering advise, and the changes were made to avoid such problems. About a dozen pieces of equipment that was sitting on that floor directly had to be mounted on piers through the floating floor to the structural floor, and so avoid the disturbance problem. The concrete was massive and the equipment relatively small, but that is the nature of such disturbances which on the surface may seem unlikely, but presents serious risk. Winston Adams

    • Readers may remember the roof collapse on the Village Mall some years ago. About 6 months before this happened my wife and I visited the mall and I noticed the considerable vibration in the floor in the vicinity of the escalator. I explained to her that this building is not safe, that the shaking was probably resonant frequency caused by the escalator or the big air handlers on the roof and that eventually through metal fatigue something will fail. Afterward she was worried to the point that she called VOCM open line. I believe it was Carl Sterrit, who she explained it to, and who replied " Oh, nothing can happen, that was build by a Crosbie firm, a very reputable company. The roof collapsed in the night as far as I recall, and there were no deaths or injury, and I assume things were settled quietly by insurance. I felt the cause was just not disclosed.
      But for readers interested in what tiny forces can do, just Google "Galloping Gertie Tacoma Bridge" and watch the 5 minute you tube video. In 1940 this bridge was completed as the third longest suspension bridge in the world. It lasted 5 months, destroyed by a 40 mph wind. Someone with a movie camera caught it on film. The workers during construction noticed the bridge began to move vertically and nicknamed it "Galloping Gertie" . The film is often used to remind engineers to avoid inappropriate risks. Winston Adams