Duane Hicks
If you notice next Tuesday morning that a section of Fourth Street West is blocked off, and there’s emergency response vehicles in the vicinity, don’t worry—it’s only a drill.
The Town of Fort Frances, Union Gas, and Energy Fundamentals Group (EFG) L.P.-Centra Pipeline are working together to run through a scenario from 8 a.m.-noon from the CN Station to York Avenue.
Patrick Briere, public information officer for the local Emergency Control Group, said that on the day of the mock emergency, the public is being asked to avoid this area as emergency personnel and other representatives will be working there for training purposes.
The road will be closed during the four hours and the exercise will be conducted as if it were a real emergency response, he added.
But Briere stressed any activities that could be a potential risk to the public all will be simulated to ensure the safety of the public.
During the exercise, the public is being advised to listen to 93.1 The Border for updates.
EFG—Centra Pipeline owns and operates a natural gas transmission pipeline within Fort Frances, and is required to conduct emergency exercises.
“EFG’s objectives for the exercise are to test our emergency management program, and the implementation by our employees, to make sure everything works the way it’s supposed to be working,” Michael Pelletier, director of pipeline operations for EFG, said last week.
“We’re doing the exercise in conjunction with Union Gas and the fire department,” he noted.
“And to foster that relationship and make sure the communication and everything works between all of our companies to make sure, in the unlikely event of an emergency on our system, that we’re prepared to deal with that with the fire department.”
“Another benefit to EFG is not a lot of people know who EFG-Centra Pipeline is and what we do,” added Pelletier.
“So it’s a good public awareness thing for us to be able to do this exercise and work with you people, as well.”
EFG is a transporter of natural gas. Its pipeline carries natural gas from the TransCanada pipeline in Manitoba through the northern border of Minnesota into Ontario at Rainy River, and across to Fort Frances and back into International Falls.
Along the way, EFG serves local distribution companies, like Union Gas, and larger industrial customers like Resolute Forest Products and Boise.
Pelletier said EFG is required by National Energy Board regulations to conduct emergency exercises, and there will be three energy board reps on site during next Tuesday’s drill.
The exercise also is an opportunity for the local Emergency Control Group (ECG) to be put to the test.
While gas crews and emergency personnel attend the site on Fourth Street West, ECG members will convene at the Civic Centre and respond from a planning perspective.
Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig said the ECG has to be prepared for any crisis—from a pandemic to a weather event to a industrial accident.
The ECG convenes on a semi-regular basis, and goes through “dress rehearsals of simulated emergencies.”
“For this particular case, we’re utilizing a gas-type situation, but it could any number of things,” McCaig said.
“This is a regular activity that we do, co-ordinated by our fire chief Frank Sheppard, but there’s many players involved, not just from the town,” he noted.
The idea is to be able to respond to any emergency in a manner where the town could continue to deliver services that are needed to its residents, and to ensure access to resources either within the community or outside the community.
“Over the last 10 years, I’ve been involved in any number of these exercises and I can’t trumpet the merits of them enough,” stressed McCaig.
He noted the gas explosion at J.W. Walker School in 2008 was a good example of a situation that could have been far worse, and drove home the need for the ECG to commit an ongoing program of evaluation and training.
“We appreciate the fact EFG is working with us on this event,” McCaig said.
“It helps meet their needs, as well, but this is something the town and the community has to continue to keep in close touch with and regularly exercise this process.”
Fort Frances Fire Chief Frank Sheppard noted next Tuesday’s exercise should enable participants to measure their response capacity and the ECG’s planning capacity.
Over above that, it’s a good opportunity for the ECG to practice its public communications skills.
Chief Sheppard said part of the ECG’s work includes consideration for post-emergency factors, such as housing evacuees, sustaining gas services in inclement weather, and more.
“That’s probably at least an equal part of the incident because the aftermath becomes more difficult to manage than the actual incident,” he reasoned.
Chief Sheppard added that in a community of this size, with limited resources provided at a provincial level, the town doesn’t have a choice but to learn to work together with others.
“When we have the opportunity to work with community partners such as Union [Gas] or EFG, it’s imperative we take advantage of those opportunities,” he stressed.
“The other folks that come into our ECG, whether it be the board of education, whether it be the church groups, the public service groups, the people from the hospital, the other provincial agencies that are involved, we have to have enough of a relationship.
“That sort of team-building process is about the only thing that will get us through an emergency,” said Chief Sheppard.
“And I believe we’ve been pretty successful at that, and certainly it’ll be part of the focus that we’re going to maintain.”
Should anyone have any questions or concerns prior to next Tuesday’s exercise, contact Briere at 274-5323 ext. 255 or via e-mail at prbriere@fort-frances.com
