With floodwaters inundating numerous areas in southeast Saskatchewan, a number of scenarios that once seemed unthinkable have presented challenges for everyone from law enforcement to utility companies.
One such situation arose last Wednesday when SaskEnergy was forced to call in the Regina Police Service's water recovery unit to shut down a sub-station that had become submerged south of Estevan.
Dave Burdeniuk, the media relations manager for SaskEnergy, said the station was under 10 feet of water at the time, making it completely inaccessible to the company's employees.
"We knew that area would likely flood and prior to the water moving in. We did install piping, vents, that were quite high above the station so that if the station did get a little bit of water and there was any type of pressure build up, it could still vent that gas to atmosphere," said Burdeniuk.
"But when all the water moved in on (June 18), that station was completely submerged and there was no way that we could to it. We have had situations where as long as we could get our trucks or quads or any type of vehicle in there our techs could still wade through water but this thing was completely submerged."
Burdeniuk said despite being submerged the station had continued to operate for three days. However, safety concerns prompted them to make the call to Regina and after a quick tutorial from SaskEnergy staff the team went to work.
"It was a matter of co-ordinating with them in advance, showing them photos as to what the different valves and things would look like once they got underwater," said Burdeniuk who added the process of shutting the sub-station down took one hour. "Our people in Estevan laminated some photos so the divers could take them down with them. We were able to be in radio contact with them and answer any questions."
As for the integrity of the station, Burdeniuk said it is too early to say whether or not there will be any permanent damage although he noted when the team opened a cabinet, fish swam out of it.
"This station is not designed to run submerged but we have had stations in the past that have encountered water for awhile. It's a matter of going back in and doing maintenance. There might have to be some valve replacement done. This isn't a station that has a great deal of electronics inside of it, so in this case it should be a fairly routine maintenance to get this thing back up and running once the floodwaters recede."
Outside of dealing with the sub-station issues, Burdeniuk said SaskEnergy has been focused on meeting the needs of customers.
He noted natural gas service was shut off for 196 locations in Willow Park Greens. By Monday, there were just a few that had yet to be reconnected.
The company also conducted an aerial survey last week to check on its infrastructure in the area and will continue inspections as the floodwaters recede. They will also be in Benson throughout the week to check for any possible leaks there.
