New Brunswick Government Continues Denial with Pseudo Study
The New Brunswick government is commencing a study of ways to mitigate future flooding in Perth-Andover. Yet not surprisingly, they have decided to completely ignore key points in favor of promoting the “Act of God” scenario which completely absolves them of any accountability.
In their recent press release, they are offering to discuss ways to mitigate future flooding. Focusing on four key points.
● the known and anticipated risks of ice-jam flooding for the Perth-Andover area;
● the extent to which the St. John River itself is a factor contributing to ice-jam flooding, and possible measures that could reduce the risk of ice jams;
● possible measures for managing ice and river flows that could reduce the risk of ice jams; and
● possible structural and non-structural measures that could reduce the risk of floods to individual properties and to the community.
I’m well aware the province finds itself in a tough fiscal place, mostly due to NB Power’s botched refurbishment of Point Lepreau, which recently has been pointed out to be entirely their own making, despite the fact they’re attempting to sue their insurance company. However I wasn’t aware that the province couldn’t afford the few extra bytes of webspace it would take to include another bullet point. One that may perhaps look like this.
● the effects of the hydro-electric infrastructure relating to the cause of the flooding.
The province is still standing firm on their conviction that the river itself is a wild, untamed entity, that sometimes rears its head attempting to unbridle itself from the tyrannical yoke of oppression placed upon it by spilling over its banks and washing away all signs of civilization. While that would certainly make an interesting philosophy, it is in itself, a philosophy.
Philosophy isn’t just a boring course taught in University, it’s science without the science. Meaning that if there is no physical experimentation you can perform to prove your scientific theory, it is no longer science. It is philosophy. There is no science to support the province’s stance that the river by itself is solely to blame for the flooding. Far from it. . . Historical records as well as studies from the University of New Brunswick prove just the opposite. The hydro-electric infrastructure put in place by the province is to blame for the flooding. Specifically the Mactaquac Dam. It is no coincidence that the flooding in Perth-Andover started after its completion in 1968, and to believe otherwise is simply willful ignorance. . Let alone the impacts of human error when operating the Grand-Falls and Beechwood dams. Such as the fact that less than half the gates of the Beechwood dam were open during the height of the flooding, and the falls in Grand-Falls were turned into a hundred foot deep lagoon because all the gates were open.
However another key point this press release doesn’t touch on is the fact the province and federal government suppressed studies in the early 1960’s about the physical effects the Mactaquac dam would play on the river. In order to get the dam built and not have the public rise up against it, they kept these studies from the public. Certainly a lot has changed in the last 50 years. However government transparency has not. With scandal after scandal coming out of Ottawa concerning the Harper government, it begs the question, why would we trust the provincial government to perform a study of such importance when they already have left out key issues. Certainly they are including local officials in the process to avoid complete outrage, but based on the fact they have already left out a key issue it doesn’t seem very likely that these local officials will be able to ensure the ethical completion of the study. The provincial and federal governments most likely already know what the findings of the study will be, and you can be assured it won’t be what’s in the best interest of the community. However they are hoping the fact they are referring to it as a study will ease the tension, when in reality it’s simply a report. There is nothing scientific about it, due in a large part to the fact that the world scientific community is already petitioning Stephen Harper to ease the reins on Environment Canada’s scientists. It is fact that Environment Canada will not let their climatologists present findings without clearing it with the government first. There is no reason to believe that any study conducted under the tutelage of the provincial and federal governments will present the actual scientific facts.
Also completely ignoring the root cause of the flooding and laying the blame solely on the back of mother nature and freak chance is like trying to put a band-aid on skin cancer. You can certainly mask the ulcer, but eventually the root cause is going to kill you. It was no miracle that there were no deaths in the recent flooding, that is attributed solely to the skill and expertise of the Perth-Andover Volunteer Fire Department, however next time there very well may be a loss of life. The flood waters rose over the banks in a matter of minutes, quite literally. While the majority of the Beechwood dam’s gates stayed shut, the village was engulfed in a torrent of water. Simply patting NB Power on the back and saying it was all the river’s fault doesn’t absolve them of blame. They mishandled their infrastructure and are denying its involvement as the underlying cause. Yet reason and accountability has never been a trait associated with NB Power. They are a government run monopoly. They are poorly managed and have been slowly sapping the province of its strength for years while their CEO pulls down massive bonuses and a $325k a year salary. Yet now their poorly managed company model not only threatens the province with financial hardship, it also is directly threatening lives, and that is completely and utterly unacceptable.
Unless the province is willing to acknowledge the role that the hydro-electric dams play in the flooding, there is no recourse. One cannot mitigate an event that is progressively getting worse with each decade. A truly independent study must be commissioned. No provincial or federal governments. No crown monopolies. Assemble a panel of scientific experts and let them examine the underlying causes of the flooding and ways to prevent it from happening in the future. Get a group of engineers and let them come up with models of infrastructure and earth works to ensure should the river jam, and the Beechwood dam’s gates only open up partially, that the waters never spill over the banks. No government insurance adjuster could ever use their mathematical formulas of calculating depreciation to determine the value of someone’s father, mother, son or daughter, and this is the only feasible way of insuring they never have to.
NB Blogger Expletive-Deleted graciously granted us permission to reprint this thought provoking article from his blog.
Thanks E D!
For more insightful and provocative commentary visit his blog at www.expletive-deleted.ca
