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Flood Recovery Chair to assess Drumheller

Mayor Terry Yemen, right, and Dr. Richard Starke, Minister of Tourism, Parks, and Recreation meet during the flood in June. After lobbying the provincial government, Yemen has received word from Starke that the Chair of the Southern Alberta Flood Recovery Task Force, Andre Corbould, will be conducting an assessment of Drumheller.

   The Town of Drumheller continues to lobby the province to reconsider a province-wide development ban in areas it considers floodways or redraw Drumheller’s flood hazard map.
   Some headway has been made, the province is reported to be sending Andre Corbould, Chief Assistant Deputy Minister of the Southern Alberta Flood Recovery Task Force, to perform an assessment of Drumheller.
   Mayor Terry Yemen was informed of the visit after a conversation with Dr. Richard Starke, Minister of Tourism, Parks, and Recreation.
   “He advised that Andre Corbould, Chairperson for the Recovery Task Force, would be in Drumheller within the next couple of weeks to do an onsite assessment,” said Yemen. “The one-size isn’t going to fit all, so hopefully we’ll get some common sense out of the government,” said Yemen.
   Corbould, a retired brigadier-general in the Canadian Armed Forces, was appointed to chair the Southern Alberta Flood Recovery Task Force following the floods in June. Corbould, then with the military, was deployed to assist with Winnipeg’s flood response in 1997.
   Corbould could not be reached for comment.
   Drumheller isn’t the only municipality demanding the province change its proposal. The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) met in Okotoks on August 7.
   “They wanted to give everyone a little bit of an overview and talk about the issues,” said Yemen. “We spoke loudly about our issues. I think as a result, because I told them I wasn’t having any luck getting a hold of the government, Minister Starke called me that night and told me Corbould was coming.”
   Though the AUMA will lobby on behalf of the province’s municipalities, the Town of Drumheller will continue its own efforts.
   “They’re (the AUMA) going to take the issues forward, but that’s not to say we’re going to sit back either. I’m going to push our own agenda and not wait for the AUMA,” said Yemen.
   The Town has been lobbying the province since Municipal Affairs Minister Dough Griffiths proposed several policies to help reduce flood damage in the future. One of the proposals would ban new developments in areas marked as floodways. Large parts of the Drumheller Valley are considered to be in floodways.
   “The vast majority of houses in Drumheller didn’t flood, a lot not even in 2005, so why put them in a floodway?” said Yemen. “Help the people who need it, the ones who flooded, and leave the rest of us alone.”
   To see if your property is in the floodway, visit www.envinfo.gov.ab.ca/floodhazard.

Encana aids Carbon Fire Department to defuse potential gas threat

The quick action of the Carbon Fire Department and support from Encana helped stave off a potentially deadly situation in Carbon on Thursday afternoon.
   About seven homes had to be evacuated after an 1,100 gallon propane tank that contained about 800 gallons of gas was compromised in downtown Carbon at the intersection of Bruce Avenue and Grey Street.
   Mike Still is a Carbon firefighter and also works for Encana. He explains that afternoon an individual was attempting to load the full tank on to a trailer when it dropped and cracked a valve.
   “Another inch and it would have probably emptied itself extremely rapidly, and in that case we would have lost half the town, if you do the dispersion models on a volume that size being released,” said Still. “It is something you don’t even want to think about.”
   He understood the gravity of the situation and quickly contacted his boss at Encana. It turns out there was a crew from Catch and Release, which had a portable flare set up in the area. They ran line and set up the flare far away from the town centre.
   “They were actually able to control the flow and bleed it off in a controlled environment,” said Still. He said it took from about 4 p.m. until 7:30 a.m. to flare the 800 gallons of propane.
   “We got lucky that Encana had crew close by and they told us to wig out, get over to Carbon and help,” said Still, “they (Encana) were awesome.”
   The Carbon Fire Department worked throughout the night to monitor the breached tank and keep the tank cool and stable.
   Carbon Fire Chief Kerry Morgan was grateful for the company’s help in this situation.
   “The situation could have escalated to extreme had we not been able to access Encana’s resources and Catch and Release so quickly,” said Morgan in a letter to the company. “We are extremely grateful for your contribution to our community; to the safety of our residents and the protection of our homes.”

Drumheller woman dead following vehicle rollover

    A Drumheller woman is dead and a Hanna woman was airlifted to Calgary with life threatening injuries following a single motor vehicle rollover on Highway 544 east of Patricia
   At roughly 3:38 a.m. on Tuesday, August 13, Brooks RCMP and the Patricia Fire Department were dispatched to the rollover. Two occupants of the vehicle were found to have been ejected during the rollover.
   Initial investigation indicates the vehicle failed to negotiate a bend along the highway, resulting in the rollover. Brooks RCMP continue to investigate and are not ruling out alcohol as a factor in the rollover. No charges have been laid at this time.
   A 19-year-old female from Drumheller was pronounced dead at the scene and a 20-year-old female from Hanna was airlifted to the Foothills Hospital in Calgary with life threatening injuries. The driver of the vehicle is unknown at this time.
   The names of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin.

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