Guest Post by Cabot Martin
post on the Uncle Gnarley Blog – entitled Premier Needs Quebec Judge’s Help On Forensic Audit – was about possible criminal activity on the Muskrat
project and the need for a forensic audit.
previous piece I authored – back in May – was called Of Deceit, Emera and Muskrat Madness. It described a possible action of civil deceit
against Emera with respect to their very burdensome Muskrat contracts with Nalcor.
important issues.
good friend Con O’Brien is quick to point out, over-riding all is the North
Spur.
be halted for that reason alone – Now.
issue sometimes (all the time?) gets lost in the Muskrat shuffle.
go through it yet one more time.
can fail.
unpredictable and can involve relatively small amounts of energy.
this excellent, very frightening, Norwegian video on the 1978 Rissa Quick Clay
landslide;
Notice at
the very start how simply digging out a small amount of fill to extend a barn
basement caused a slide that extended some 12 km on the flat.
initiating event – big impact.
A
progressive downhill slide can be initiated by the reactivation of an old slump;
can move at a fast rate; slides can happen in two stages.
instance of a two-phase slide is the deadly 2014 Oso Slide in Washington State
Here is
an aerial view shortly after the slide.
link to one of the innumerable articles on the Oso slide.
To put it
simply, the Oso Slide started upslope on one side of the river, rushed as a mass
of liquified mud across the river, through a subdivision at 60 miles per hour, across
the river valley and upslope on the other side of the river.
is a combination of Rissa (Quick Clay) and Oso (steep slope hovering over a
flat river valley).
The image below is a
Google Earth shot of the North Spur area; the river is flowing from left to
right; north is at the top.
how it naturally dams the river and makes it flow around Spirit Mountain and
over the two falls that together make up Muskrat Falls. The power house and
general construction site are on the southside of the river.
clay is to be found throughout the area south of the white line which
represents the Trans Labrador Highway. It is a big area; the Spur itself alone
is 1 km long.
Anyone
who thinks they can stop the downhill movement of tens of millions of tonnes of
unstable glacio-marine clay covering several square kilometers, stretching from
the North Spur proper all the way back uphill to the Trans Labrador highway, by
puny “stabilization methods” on the Spur, should turn in their iron ring.
The North
Spur together with all this North Spur rip rap and cut off walls
would be (as Dr. Bernander has said) “ swept away like matchsticks” if a
Downhill Progressive Landslide is initiating up slope anywhere up to the Trans
Labrador Highway.
is set to come down – indeed at any moment the whole hillside can turn into a
catastrophic flood of liquid clay that would bury the work site and all on it.
can happen is simple:
slump up towards the Trans Labrador Highway.
motion is big enough to set the lower portion of the area in motion liquifying
it.
miles an hour across, first the river, then the spillway/ powerhouse area,
covering it and everyone in the area with 30 or 40 feet of liquid mud.
river valley until gravity takes over and the liquid clay settles back into
it’s path of destruction.
would for a while seal off the Lower Churchill River
for long – for it truly is a mighty river.
now free to seek out its old channel north of Spirit Mountain – the channel
used before the North Spur was created.
is presently at tidewater – elevation zero; solid rock is down another 800 or so feet.
the river starts cutting down it will not stop till it gets to
basement rock – I am informed by a reliable/experienced/qualified source that
given the depth of clay and sand to solid rock upstream the downcutting can be
assumed to extend in a deep trench some 35 miles upstream to the foot of the
Gull Island rapids.
immediate impact on the Muskrat site is that it would be a devastated site, permanently completely useless and the location of death.
be the greatest civil disaster in Canadian history.
from SNC Lavalin to Nalcor to the Labor Unions – not to mention the Minister
responsible for Dam Safety – have learnt to live with their studied ignorance
in this matter.
And it’s
not like a major downhill slide hasn’t happened before in the North Spur area.
blow-up of the lower left-hand corner of the image immediately above. The brook
on the right is Lower Brook. There is a pull off & Lookout with picnic tables
just before the sharp road bend to the north.
on the north side of the road is solid rock – harder than the Hobs of Hell.
on the south side of the road drops quick over a cliff.
jumbled pattern in the vegetation between the bottom of the cliff and the
river.
within living memory, the scene of a major slide – certainly large enough to
take out the North Spur.
back in the late thirties or early forties, some trappers were spending the
night in their cabin in the area between Lower Brook and what was to become the
slide edge.
their friends they heard an incredible noise in the middle of the night rush
down the slope like a freight train going real fast.
daylight came, they realized the slide, that had started up slope, had just missed
them.
Nalcor has instructed all it’s consultants to assume that such down hill slides
cannot occur in the Muskrat Falls area.
to the Judge.
a lay comment, following two summer holidays in the north…Labrador 2016 and Yukon 2017…in areas with mighty rivers, and ground composed of glacial till, there are many very flat areas…suggesting a tendency of glacial clays to pancake. I am not an expert, but I have normal knowledge of gravity, have seen liquefaction of a load of wet lime in the back of a trailer (started moving and killed the shocks on my corolla)…and think there is a great deal of common sense in Mr. Martin's suggestions.
Great article, but I find the descriptions of the photos a bit confusing. Is it possible to markup the images to help us who aren't familiar with the region?
At your suggestion, Cabot has annotated two slides to provide a better understanding of the area and the issue.
Yes, the 15$ billion white elephant could be wiped out at anytime, and if that was the end of it, and the debt we owe was gone, I would say good riddance to it. Just take care of the people downstream before it arrives there. But like any natural catastrophic event we never know the time or place, wether it is a earth quake, like current Mexico , or Harvey or Marie that hit the us and particularly Puerto Rico, destruction is inevitable. The big us of a will take care of it's territory and Puerto Rico, may come out in the long run better than before, as trumpie may say. Except for the lost of life. But no matter what happens in muskrat we are still on the hook for the catastrophic financing for ever and a day. And this could be considered self-inflected as only a bunch of fools would go up there to find the little bit of power we needed here on the Avalon, and produce power for Nova Scotia at 5 cents and cost us 35 cents. You couldn't make this shit up. My God they were insane, and some still are.
If we can't get W5, or 5th estate, or Debbie or Anthony to shown any interest, can we not get Rick Mercer to do a Rant on Muskrat?? Or fly him over the entire site and interview the managers on site, like only rick can do. Is Mercer brave enough to do it, maybe a kick start that may get the interest of some other media, or to inform some of the uninformed public, which can only be done in comedy. Who has the contacts…con …maybe…
It is surprising that none of the national or even provincial media show much interest in this, even though the whole exonomy of Newfoundland and Labrador is in peril for this one and only reason — and there is absolutely ZERO benefit to the province. However there is so much harm and everything wrong about this whole project.
Anyone reading this with a Twitter account, try to convince @rickmercer to develop a rant.
As stated, the impact of the failure would be destruction and death, and a useless site………6 billion or more wasted at the site.
The risk of this site was known from the 1960s by Acres Canadian Bechtel, a company I worked for during construction of the Upper Churchill, so nothing new. What is new is the engineering knowledge of analysis of quick clay risks in recent decades, and which has been noted by professionals on this blog previously, largely by Cabot Martin`s efforts to bring this to the attention of the public. A summary can be found on the blog Vision 2041, under the heading North Spur.
Yes, the number one issue is the risk of death and destruction, and number two is the risk of debt and destitution, as being outlined by PlanetNL.
The combined risk of both surely questions the prudence of completing the work at this site.
This risk is obvious to a average person who wishes to read up on this, but much more so to engineers. Yet few are brave enough to state an opinion.
For many, the iron ring is a symbol of the high ethical duty to avoid inappropriate risk, and for safety in design of their projects for protection of the public.
Perhaps Debbie Cooper of CBC Here and Now, can interview those who defend this as a safe project. She has a talent that uses this serious tone of voice when matters are of grave concern, such as the suicide of RCMP officers.
Or a debate at the Harris Centre by professionals for and against the assumption that this project is safe.
As a ex-Hydro engineer, I stand with the opinion presented here, that the North Spur design in not safe, and presents a grave risk.
Where do other engineers stand…….
I am not an expert in this field, but feel qualified to state an opinion……..silence by other engineers only gives false security to the public.
Winston Adams
Debbie Cooper may not be the right journalist to do the interview—Anthony Germaine would be a better choice (my opinion). Either way, interview or no interview it borders on criminal not to step back and assess this grave peril to lives in Labrador and severe financial hardship to everyone.
God almighty! Was there no other choice to have sufficient power for Galway? Talk about insanity!!
Agreed that Anthony may be better, as asking key questions that are of a technical nature requires some technical research into the subject…….whoever has the best talent for that.
And the anon comment about a Rick Mercer Rant on the Rat project, mentioned above……….would love to see that.
WA
Need I remind you Cabot that in NL the "justice" system has shown that if you are a cabinet minister or henchman of the feudal autocracy you get a free pass in the justice system. The guilty will never see justice after the fact.
It is time you turned your mind to exposing the rot and acting NOW to prevent a human and financial disaster. The goal must be to stop the madness NOW, before it is too late.
That would likely require stepping on some tiny toes that you seem reluctant to do. You can't separate the crime from the criminal, can you Cabot?
Get to the root of the crime against NL and pursue the perpetrator. Warning that they will be punished after the fact(or will suffer eternal damnation) is a cheap side stepping of the root cause of the MF spur peril and the uneconomic project as a whole.
Why are you unable to do anything to stop this disaster? Threats of legal action after a disaster or whining a deal is not a deal are meaningless.
When will you muster the courage to ACT on your convictions? When will loyalty to the tribal chieftain finally be breached? When will you act in the interest of NL's future?
Contact the show Vice they are a Canadian company who travel the world for good stories this is right in there back yard they might look at it ..
The Canadian content editor for VICE is CAeditor@vice.com If many if us contact them, they might hear us through the noise. Point out that the research has already been done. This is an easy but powerful and important story with many interesting angles.
"Tell it to the Judge". If the judge is Murphy you'll probably end up in jail for slandering Nalcor!
Least ye forget:
Muskrat was needed to address the growing electric heat demand on this island………..a demand that could have been addressed effectively with energy efficiency for our homes and other buildings.
In case you've missed it………this is ENERGY EFFICIENCY week……Sept 25 -Oct 3, as promoted by Take Charge, an arm of both power companies : Nfld power and Nfld Hydro………..with part of our power bill costs going for ads on NTV and other media………….our money for those ads, added to our bills……infomercials where NTV employees assists the power companies with their disinformation……….
On Oct 3 , Ntv's Eddie Sheerr will challenge OZFM's Hugh Campbell to see who knows Watt's Watt?!? (Bet not one of them could technically define what a watt is………but being forwarned here , they may Google it).
Questions will be put to them by take charge energy experts. One such expert , identified by NTV ad is Wayne Upshall……..he is actually an engineer…….., part of their efficiency TEAM. Who makes up the full TEAM is a mystery, a company secret it seems.
Here is a question I would propose: Why is Nfld and Labrador rated the second worst province in Canada for Conservation and energy efficiency? Wayne seemed surprised and unaware of this when I mentioned it to him 6 months ago, asking where that information came from. I stated this to the Fortis CEO Barry Parry in April at their AGM………he did not deny this as inaccurate. He made no commitment to change it, to improve our efficiency plans.
For me , it is disgusting to see our our power bill dollars being wasted to largely misinform us on energy efficiency measures, and they being in cahoots with the media like NTV and others to enable this.
This type of behavior is what has helped land us in this Muskrat Mess.
The above event (called Battle of the Energy Savers) is being held at the Gap Court, Avalon Mall, 12 noon Oct 3
Perhaps some reader of this can attend and see the spectacle, and put my question to them…….if they will allow you.
My source for our power companies being second worse in Canada……….it is a mayor energy efficiency consultant who stated it in a report for another province. The worse province, by the way, is Saskatchewan.
Even our feeble Consumer Advocate , Tom Johnson, stated in April 2016 to the PUB that our power companies had failed in their Efficiency and Conservation plans……….a big step for Tom to admit………..
Andy Wells, bless his heart , seems to have a conversion and saw the Green light, but only dismissed from the PUB, but it was too little too late to make him mayor of Sin John''s …….he carried his climate denial baggage for too long………too bad Andy……….but your initiatives at the PUB, for efficiency to help homeowners, is a matter of record, and enabled the status of second worse in Canada, under your watch.
Winston Adams
WHY? Would you stay in a province with so much doom and gloom. You obviously are not appreciated because not many are listening to all your warnings. The north spur is going to fail, the NL. economy is going to collapse, hydro rates are going to double or even triple, the north dam is going to collapse, people down stream will be poisoned by mercury. All hope is lost the sky is falling head for the hills. Maybe we will get lucky and be obliterated in a nuclear war. AMEN.
Many blogs get a couple of comments, some none at all. This blog is getting about 50 comments per piece, and growing…….so many are reading and concerned. Too many still have their head in the sand.
One could always leave and head for where……Puerto Rico, or Houston, or the Keys…..the Virgin Islands….or the Turks……….
I suppose one might stay to try and enlighten and improve our home province………too many good people leave……it being the easier thing to do…….a revolution is not a easy achievement,
Nflders are survivors…..but we deserve more than just survive, with many of the worlds great resources…….we should be prosperous. We need not be sheep.
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Forget CBC. We've held events all week bringing attention and information about the Muskrat madness.Yesterday we shut down Nalcor. Media were alerted and invited. CBC sent no one. Not one peep from the broadcasting company in cahoots with government.
CBC / PBS / BBC are just propaganda arms of their respective governments. Don't expect them to disturb the status quo.
Sooooooo Dwight is calling an inquiry but is avoiding an audit. Why am I not surprised?
If only there was a group of lawyers that would challenge the premier in court and demand an audit, eh Cabot! Now is not the time to be supine, now is time for some spine.
An "inquiry" in NL is a waste of time if the Duffy inquiry is any indication. If the inquiry was able to ignore creditable evidence that the evidence was tampered with, like a trunk and the location of the rifle changed, they are worthless.
Nothing less than an audit will do. Now is the time to act to demand this disaster be investigated and the money followed in detail.
It is showtime for the 2041 Group.
Ball and all, is just going to do what the powers that be are telling him what to do. It is just a stalling Tatic, to make it appear he is doing something, and ball et al will be long gone before the inquire concludes, or maybe before it starts. There is no democracy, just the strong mans demands and direct orders from the upper crust. They need to squeeze the last penny from NALCOR and the government before they pull out their construction companies etc. Yes ball me boy, they will have all gone with their lunch cans too before the enquiry gets underway. What a farce.
And notice, his announcement was made at a Liberal fund raiser….where he blames it all on the Tories "who lied to the people …..it was more than false…it's bull absolute bull , the Telegram quoted him as saying.
Read Gerald Niven comment: "Terms of reference will be smoke and mirrors.what a farce this is going to be"
Niven says it is time he consult the Upper Island Covers….
One UIC guy told me 6 months ago that Ball was like a vacuum cleaner salesman. Perhaps Niven can elaborate on UIC connections?
For sure , a forensic audit is essential as a first step, and the terms of reference are so important , as is the judge selected. But no audit it seems.
Remember, Ball very much supported Muskrat………and costs keep climbing under Ball's watch, and he ignores major risk issues still.
Winston Adams
Bruno:
You are either off base or have limited understanding of what is required to determine the fault at MF.
An inquiry is exactly what is needed—it is the only tool to examine both the technical and fiduciary issues surrounding MF. 'If' the terms of the inquiry are correctly referenced, a forensic audit will be a piece of the larger work—an audit is not required to direct the terms of reference for an inquiry.
The outcome of an audit will be of little use—we taxpayers are on the hook for +/-$15B and there is nothing that can change that. I am sure most want to point fingers and lay blame, I would prefer to have a good understanding of what is wrong technically , what will go wrong in the future and what the cure is.
For an inquiry all that is needed is a sufficiently broad scope to allow a deep dive into what happened from day 1.
I stand by my previous statements that the money part of MF is set in stone and a minor problem when compared to the technical challenges to come—hopefully Ball isnt starting an inquiry too soon such that there will be sufficient time to develop all the construction technical challenges…
Also, I believe AE also cited an inquiry was the premier tool for this type of work.
PENG2
Political inquires are useless in NL. The scope will limit the inquiry. After a forensic audit an inquiry makes sense.
You daydream a scenario to justify your full steam ahead, damn the torpedoes approach.
You have zero evidence that an inquiry will ferret out the truth.
Bruno:
An audit could be just as political as an inquiry—what I want is a broader understanding of what is to come… Blaming DW/EM et al for pushing ahead either ill-advised or fariously doesn't fix what is coming. Accept that no one will be punished.
You may as well accept now that at the end of the day, there will no one punished, a misguide project 'completed', and a huge debt load placed on us taxpayers.
The opportunity to prevent this mess was 07-Apr-2001, after then this was set in stone…. Sorry to break your bubble….
Going forward, please don't misrepresent my comments and pay attention to quotes, caps etc—you do this regularly.
PENG2
I will never accept your premise that no one will ever be punished. I stubbornly believe that democracy, accountability and transparency matter.
I am also experienced and cynical enough to be realistic about the real politique. You need some life lessons to understand what is possible and the reality of life in NL.
MUN is catching up with the 70's.
http://www.thetelegram.com/business/2017/9/28/memorial-inks–28-4-m-energy-performance-contract-with-honeywell.html
Would be nice if the the reporter gave some energy use numbers. The campus was designed and built as an energy waste facility. What is the sense of sophistic controls on a wasteful M&E design? Where is the 30 year conversion to LEED building design? RE applications, Zero Net Energy?
Seriously, any such moves would reduce NALCOR Revenues.
Winston, please get some energy consumption Numbers and Forecasts on MUN.
Robert, thinking of you, having just prior read the MUN energy efficiency story:
This is a contract with Honeywell for 28.4 milllion, and estimated to save MUN 53 million over 20 years. So fully funded from the savings. MUN borrows the money, pays upfront to Honeywell, but MUN repays the load over 20 years from energy savings. If guaranteed savings are not achieved , Honeywell pays the difference.
But certainly not a conversion to LEEDS standards.
But even this shows how energy efficiency is self financing from the savings. But no provincial policy for this approach for residents.
MUN spend 28.7 million for this, yet for the whole province, residential and commercial, the power companies Energy Efficency plan has a budget of about 5 million total, for some 200,000 customers, one third of which is spent for power company salaries!
They actually are celebrating this farce, this week, as a wonderful think, now going on for 25 years …….the public played like a fiddle, treated like children………..equivalent to each house putting a piece of plastic over a single 4 x 4 window, as to energy savings on the grid!
Scandalous what they do, and residents are not aware they are being screwed with their own money from the power bill they pay.
The formula for energy saving, is about the same;spend 28 million, save 53 million on energy at MUN
For a house , spend 7 thousand on appropriate measures, save about 15 thousand (30,000 if rates double).
But we are expected to be satisfied with a piece of plastic over a window, such is the culture we endure here, sold as a bill of goods, to the public………..and a big part of this approach leading to the MF fiasco. Any inquiry must set that straight. A comparison of Nova Scotia and Nfld is essential……..NS being No 1 , and we No 9 for Canadian provinces! Who blocked this prudent approach to our energy solution 5 years ago? Rather than save customers money, windfall profits have gone to a few, and rates to double or more with a useless and dangerous MF.
Winston
Winston, Provincial Consultants, Northland Associates, Atlantic Consulting Economists and Omnifacts Research Prepared "Energy Technology Demonstration Strategies", for Energy Mines and Resources Canada. This brief was available to NL Mines and Energy as well as the general public.
I suggest those interested in how NL chose the wrong pathway to current energy waste containment, and mega projects like Muskrat, dig up a copy of the reference document, have it updated, and draw their own conclusions.
The above Report was done in 1986. NL Engineers involved in building design, power supply, directors of physical plant, etc. seem to have let the side, (Energy Conservation and Supply Management ), down, wouldn't you say?
The energy savings promised never materialized, nor did they go back to Honeywell and ask for a refund for the lack of savings. The engineering building is a good example.
Yes, I would have thought that following OPEC in the 70's, with RCGA/PE rewriting of Design Specs for buildings, some bright MUN Engineers/Architects would have spoken out about the mediocre campus building and plant designs local professionals were flogging the Administration.
Anon at 14:51
Honeywell first phase completed in 2009 saved 13 million by 2015 says the Telegram story…………..you say this not so? Some underhanded deal you imply?
Robert, who speaks out about any improper actavity in Nfld? Part of our culture to stay quiet it seems.
Liberty uses the word CULTURE often to describe Nalcors incompetence. Never before thought of "culture" affecting engineering work, but as they say , chase the money.
As Trump's man using private jets for travel, a commentator said : One does it and it suggests just a bad apple, but when two does it, it sets a pattern for a culture……………
Guess our culture started with Prime minister Squires if not sooner, and now we are infested ……….so all stay silent,
Was it the Walker Inquiry that documented Squire's crimes….yet he later got voted back in. And Smallwood called a building after him.
Parts of our culture need to see the sunlight, to rid the infection. Audit and inquiry of the highest order needed, to get to the bottom of this fiasco.
Meanwhile Ball's liberals took in 250,000.00 it seems, 500 at 500.00 a plate to announce the inquiry decision. A flip flop too.
Think he would have called a press conference for such an important matter. How many of the 500 are beneficiaries of the boondoggle? You cannot stamp it out, like the K K Klan, they keep popping up when an opportunity arises.
It is very well that Honeywell makes a profit from selling control systems for poorly designed/maintained buildings.
Better that the obsolete and inefficient HVAC/Arch/Elec systems were originally designed for a 50yr life cycle, utilizing current technologies, adaptable to 21st century standards. I assume that the CHP is oil fired boilers, hot water, which are not yet convertible to Solar/Geothermal/wind RE.
"Sometime back in the late thirties or early forties, some trappers were spending the night in their cabin in the area between Lower Brook and what was to become the slide edge.
They told their friends they heard an incredible noise in the middle of the night rush down the slope like a freight train going real fast."
This sounds embellished. What Grand River trappers would have had a "freight train" as a point of comparison in the 1930s or 40s?
Perhaps the Grenfell outfit had showed movies having trains……….afterall, a Priest was shooting his own movies in Labrador in the 1930s, Father Whitehead (O'Brien)
I rode a open freight train from the base at Trenton to get to Detroit in the mid 1960s, hobo style, but in uniform, coached by a pal from Winsor. Had been on the Newfie bullet a few times . But I saw trains on TV in the 1950s, with sound…………so the trappers may have been familiar with train sounds. And some trappers had travelled outside Labrador, if you have read much Labrador history.
Winston Adams
Many men, many of them trappers from Labrador, participated in World War 1. I am positive they saw railways in Europe.
Much on Muskrat in the Telegram:
1. Ashley Fitzpatrick:About more spending on the new Holyrood gas turbine, some 13.1 million, part of the Nfld Hydro application at the PUB.
Since last year and with this application there is actually about 1.5 billion of additional spending planned by Nfld Hydro and Nfld power and so will add about 3 more cents to rates………this besides Muskrat.
Ashley just touched the surface as with this 13 million………keep digging girl……….you can have a piece every day for the next year.
And she says much of Holyrood thermal generation station will be decommissioned , but the gas turbine will remain in use for backup.
How about that large building remaining , and Unit no 3 to remain, and the large terminal station……….my duckie, this means perhaps 50 percent or more to remain,permanently, not just the gas turbine. And that assumes MF transmission is reliable, and will take several years to know , and all will remain until then. And maybe not even then will there be decommissioning……..as where is this imaginary contract to import power from NS in an emergency…….
Study up Ashley……….how do we keep our backsides warm in St johns when Labrador power goes down……..and it will. The gas turbine is insufficient.
Winston Adams
What nonsense when persons like Ashley write when "they no not of what they say". Mainly parrots repeating what NALCOR and friends tell them, lies, half truths and dam lies. But admit she is better than most of the brave media, seems she is at least trying.
And Telegrams Pam Frampton :Hallelujah- Muskrat Falls Inquiry a go.
Guess all UG fans should `take a knee` a kind of prayer symbol.
Pam called for an inquiry a few weeks ago, and seems to have more clout than UG……..the power of main media……….pity it took so long for the main media to agree with the Uncle.
She says the Premier has come out swinging…….at Nalcor.
Does that mean Ball is a swinger……..
And Russell: 22 words with a very big bite.
These are the words; The corporation is not a utility as defined by the Public utilities Act and that act does not apply to the corporation.
Russell says that since Muskrat Falls is, on the face of it, clearly a public utility………that the Act more or less says a chicken, in fact, is not a chicken, and so bypassed the PUB.
But Russell, that is the nature of the Rule of Law, you are so fond of……..especially, like, when the Independent journalist, Blake, was charged.
Surely you know that a woman, for more than a century in the USA and Canada was legally not a person,(and so could not vote) so why can a chicken not be chicken, legally speaking.
Rational thought does explain these mysteries. Be thankful that the law changes and improves sometimes.
Russell says that the Manitoba PUB is now taking apart Manitoba Hydro……to get to the bottom of their albatross , like Muskrat, and asking many questions by experts on issues of best practises apparently not practised.
He asks if we were sold a bill of goods here with Muskrat. We must learn from this mistake he says. So we await Lessons Learned.
For me, as to best practises not followed……..there is that dirty word, considered by some as dirty, two words actually (not 22) never mentioned by Russell or any of the main media. Need I repeat it………is it just too offensive…….but might have been a lesson learned………..and maybe, even now worthy of `taking a knee` as to its importance………
Winston Adams
Winston it was not the sleepy crew at the Telegram but the "naysayers" that have been exposing the rot while Pam and Russell blew smoke up Nalcor's ass for all these years. UG and the cast of misfits that have informed and decried the corruption, lies and incompetence that deserve credit. Now we must to press for an audit so that we get answers, not political spin.
I guess they were on vacation when Nalcor was deemed a "non utility" utility. Nalcor became a monstrous "monstrous hybrid". No protection for the ratepayer, no transparency, no accountability while the Fourth Estate snoozed. Now Russell wants to move along and avoid the dog shit. He deserves to be dragged through it for his complicity.
Don't revel in your own self imposed pride. You are but a pawn in in the process.
It has been and will continue to be a collective exercise. I don't post anon to protect my ill informed ideas from justifiable personal scorn.
If you had more courage to speak perhaps this might all be easier.
The dirty words that the main media avoid is `EFFICIENCY NL`, or ENERGY EFFICIENCY.
Russell often compares our system to Manitoba Hydro…he might Google The Manitoba Efficiency ACT, recently adopted, but Efficiency NS is probably the gold standard in Canada.
Manitoba has targets of energy reduction of 1.5 percent per year, 22.5 percent over 15 years.
Nalcor had a projected growth rate of 0.8 percent…..MF power that cost 60 cents (23 cents blended )…….while efficiency reduction cost about 3 cents per kwh.
Got to be dirty words to those who oppose this alternative: government, power companies here, and main media here…..as I challenge anyone who can refer me to a piece published on this by any reporter or journalist in Nfld.
Why is that so……….Russell
If you can reduce demand at a fraction of the cost to produce new power, and keep rates stable instead of double or more the rates………..and it is never discussed, then this must be a very dirty concept to some who dare not write about it.
Might be be too complex an idea for Russell, Ashley or others to get his mind around it……………doubt that to be the case. But a bit of a mystery, if some could explain it.
Customer Efficiency………..take a knee, I say.
Winston Adams
With regard to item 8 of the postulated possible spur failure, it seems to be at odds with all the accepted laws of god and man as it relates to physics. You might want to check the reliability experience and qualifications of your source on this item.
If the spur itself fails despite the chosen preventative measures they have prescribed and implemented then Nalcor and its consultants should be liable after all it is considered part of the dam because it is and shall have been verified as safe by Nalcor and its consultants.
However if the natural slope above fails and takes the spur with it then that is entirely another matter. I think they call it an act of god.
You say that Nalcor has instructed all its consultants to assume that such down hill slides cannot occur in the Muskrat Falls area.(Where I come from you don't make frivolous assumptions because they can make an ass out of you and me.) If so, then the consultants are off the hook and Nalcor alone are liable. Tell that to the judge.
If you google the words canada seismic hazard map and select images, you will see that Labrador does occasionally have seismic activity. While the risk is low, this is a dam that should be there for generations. All it will take is one tremor to liquify quick clay and cause many landslides which will likely include the North Spur since it has a reservoir pushing against it. Why would anyone other than a sociopath approve such a structure?