Nova Scotia Power says it will take at least another five months for it to submit the final bill to complete an ill-fated refurbishment of the Tusket hydro electricity dam in Yarmouth County. The project is already three years behind schedule with costs still unclear and revised construction plans still needing environmental permits. The last cost estimate was $36 million — twice the amount approved by regulators in 2019. The dam site in southwestern Nova Scotia has been plagued by water leaking into the construction zone.
Epcor to add lead-reducing chemical to Edmonton's water in 2023, two years behind schedule
Levels of lead in drinking water city-wide should begin dropping in early 2023 when orthophosphate is added at Edmonton’s water treatment plant, two years later than initially promised. Epcor announced Thursday the odourless, colourless chemical will be added to city water by early 2023. Orthophosphate creates a protective barrier inside a pipe to prevent lead from leaching into the water. Around 4,200 Edmonton homes are currently serviced by lead pipes owned by Epcor, the utility said. Adding this treatment by the end of 2020 was promised as part of broader lead-reducing plans approved by city council in March 2019 around the time Health Canada reduced the concentration of lead in water allowed to five micrograms per litre from 10 micrograms per litre.
Nova Scotia Power's Tusket dam refurbishment swallows another $2M
Nova Scotia Power burned through another $2.2 million from ratepayers late last year at its ill-fated refurbishment of the Tusket hydro dam near Yarmouth, N.S. The disclosure of contingency spending during the last three months of 2021 was ordered by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board after the company told the regulator on Jan. 31 it was halting work yet again due to water seepage. The company filed its contingency spending to meet a Feb. 23 deadline imposed by the regulator.