Calgary City Councillors To Receive Independent Review Of 2024 Feeder Main Break

Calgary metropolis councillors are group to get their hands connected an independent panel’s reappraisal into nan 2024 rupture of nan Bearspaw feeder main sometime Tuesday, but 1 councillor is already raising concerns.

In nan months pursuing nan original break on nan captious h2o line, which ruptured again past week successful a different location, long-time executive and ATCO committee personnel Siegfried W. Kiefer was tapped by an advisory committee to caput up nan 5 personnel independent reappraisal panel.

That sheet was tasked pinch examining what led to nan Bearspaw feeder main to burst, what preventative measures are needed, arsenic good arsenic a deeper look astatine “all aspects” of nan city’s inferior infrastructure including nan h2o inferior systems operations and maintenance, assurance and consequence management, planning, creation and engineering, fund and financing, and governance and statement responsibility.

According to Calgary’s mayor, nan study will beryllium delivered to metropolis councillors connected Tuesday night, and nan sheet will coming nan findings publically astatine a metropolis committee gathering connected Jan. 13.

“We are moving collectively to get this retired to nan nationalist arsenic soon arsenic humanly possible,” Calgary politician Jeromy Farkas said Monday. “We request to beryllium arsenic transparent arsenic imaginable pinch Calgarians about, not conscionable what’s happening pinch nan pipe, but besides nan governance of nan City of Calgary.”

However, Ward 14 Coun. Landon Johnston has been vocal successful his concerns pinch nan report, including a societal media post questioning nan panel’s independence.

“People want answers connected this, and nan much they travel retired pinch half answers, nan much questions we’re going to have,” he told Global News connected Monday.

Johnston’s concerns centre astir an email sent by Kiefer, nan panel’s chair, to metropolis councillors and nan politician connected Saturday regarding nan timing of nan report’s release.

“Our Panel is afloat committed to delivering to you – and to each Calgarians – a study that is accurate, complete,and reflective of nan thousands of hours of activity invested,” Kiefer said successful nan email obtained by Global News. “We require only a fewer further days to finalize nan work.”

Kiefer past noted nan study will beryllium handed complete connected Tuesday alternatively of Thursday, and offered his “confidential compartment telephone number” to councillors if they person immoderate questions “regarding nan timing of nan release” of nan report.

In a follow-up email from Kiefer replying to a interest from Johnston, besides obtained by Global News, Kiefer said he would “refuse immoderate speech beyond” nan timing of nan report’s release.

“I and our full sheet person been, and remain, wholly committed to maintaining nan absolute independency of our reappraisal activity and our report,” nan email reads.

When asked astir nan business Monday, Farkas defended nan panel’s independence.

“The sheet chair contacted members of assembly to make it very clear nan petition for much clip to complete nan study was coming from nan sheet itself and not from metropolis administration,” Farkas said. “This was really basal to build spot successful nan wide process.”

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City management was provided a “very incomplete draft” of nan report, Farkas said.  Kiefer’s email said this was to complete “due diligence connected fact-checking and accuracy.”

In an question and reply pinch Global News, Johnston said he is concerned management received information, contempt it being for accuracy.

City of Calgary Infrastructure Services wide head Michael Thompson said management was asked “to supply facts,” and that accusation was sent to nan panel.

“We are not editing nan report, it is not our report, it is an independent sheet report,” Thompson said.

A City of Calgary study into nan feeder main break released successful Nov. 2024 showed respective factors are believed to person contributed to nan rupture of nan tube including microcracking of nan protective plaster outer layer, wires breaking owed to corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement, and precocious chloride levels successful nan ungraded surrounding nan pipe.

Kerry Black, a civilian engineering professor astatine nan University of Calgary, said she doesn’t judge nan independent panel’s study will show a “smoking gun.”

“It’s not 1 point that contributes to infrastructure failure, it’s a bid of events and things unfolding and aggregate factors that are yet nan consequence of a catastrophic nonaccomplishment for illustration we saw a mates years ago,” she told Global News.

No matter what nan study recommends, Farkas told reporters metropolis officials will enactment connected nan panel’s “unvarnished” opinions.

“The good, nan bad and nan ugly,” Farkas said. “We will enactment connected those recommendations truthful that Calgarians tin person assurance successful their h2o system.”