rmacqueen said:
Look at the situation in Kashechewan, where the federal government built the water treatment plant downstream from a sewage lagoon. Will the idiot who made that decision face any consequences? Doubtful.
Not quite true. I've helped evacuate Kash because of flooding (I've even risked my life by climbing off my chopper onto the river's breakup ice to hoist a drunken idiot into the cabin - he wanted to walk to Albany even though only half the river had ice). The story about the water inlet and sewer discharge is just that: a story. The whole Kash flood hazard could have been prevented with the closure of two valves (the ones that prevent the storm drains from backflowing into the town when the river rises outside the berm). That wasn't done in the fall, nor in the early stages of breakup before the river rose to cover the valves. Still, a few dozen sandbags could have covered the storm drains inside the berm, and avoided the evacuation rush, but nope: we're going to the big city instead. Also while I was there I spoke to the Arctic Rangers, who arrived two days after me and my two medium heli's to relieve me of the task of crowd control and loading, they just shook their heads and made disparaging remarks about the stupidity of some people.
By the way and off topic, the Rangers really got things organized. They brought in the three C's, imposed order and teamwork, and made haste without panic - just what you'd expect from CF personnel.
Should the "idiot" who built the plant get s**tcanned? Nope: there are only a few areas of ground high enough to build on for about 80k inland (Ft. Albany across the river could be expanded, but the two villages were converted by different brands of missionary and they won't even allow the refugees from Kash to stay in town overnight) so the water and sewer plants are arranged oddly - but not their respective intake and discharges.
Fact is, the only good excuse for evacuating anyone from Kash was that the airstrip was under water for a day and therefor out of action until it could be graded, compacted, and re-certified (48 hrs); until then, any medical emergency would require heli medevac and as a precaution you could justify the evac of about 100 people. Instead we airlifted about 1800 out by heli to Albany airstrip, where a fleet of chartered prop-jobs flew the "refugees" south to places where they could be put up in hotels, and fixed wing ac flew most of the rest out in the following days once the strip was operational. Some people left home without their winter clothes so that they could impose a need on the government to supply them with new gear once moved. Some of these people were still in places like Thunder Bay, Geraldton, Long Lac, and Cochrane in September.
All the time the media was reporting on the "humanitarian crisis" here at home. I saw the tv crews, introduced the CBC producer to the people who spoke to me about the facts behind the lies presented by the Council, and was told they would look into the story. The only thing they did was ask us to fly the helis lower on the river crossings to get better shots for the news coverage of the disaster.
Now really, who should get canned, the CBC producer or the Council?
