July 2013 The Real DIRT A monthly newsletter to keep you informed. Calgary Hit by Historic Flood On Friday June 21, 2013 the province of Alberta was hit by a "one hundred year" flood severely impacting the cities of High River, Calgary, Canmore, Medicine Hat, Okotoks, Turner Valley, Black Diamond and many other rural areas. Some information from the flood: 3: the number of times greater the peak levels of the Bow and Elbow Rivers were compared to 2005 when floods caused $275 million in damage 4: the number of Albertans who lost their lives due to the floods 10: the number of rows of the Saddledome submerged by flood waters 12: the number of prisoners who required relocating as a result of rising water 1,700: the number of cubic meters per second flowing in the Bow River in Calgary - the city's highest recorded flow since 1897 100,000: the number of Calgarians who were under a mandatory evacuation order Alberta One-Call is located within a few kilometres of Calgary's downtown core - an area heavily affected by the flood. In an emergency situation like this, the safety of our staff members and their families was our top priority and since numerous roads and bridges were closed, the decision was made to close our office to allow them to get home safely. When we did so, we failed-over to our work-at-home staff and focused operations on emergency locate requests. On the following Monday, a few days after the flood, all Calgarians were urged to limit road and transit use. As a result, Alberta One-Call employees came back to work on a limited basis, employees with a remote connection to their office PC worked from home and, if employees needed to come to the office, carpooling measures were implemented. Despite the severity of the flood, everything began returning to normal on Tuesday morning - only four days after the flood - and we began accepting routine locate requests. Within a few hours, however, a new emergency - a train derailment on a bridge over the Bow River (the same river that had just flooded) - was crippling Calgary's morning commute. The situation was serious. The bridge's integrity was badly compromised and appeared as though it might collapse; and, the train cars contained explosive materials. An emergency planning zone (EPZ) was established by the City of Calgary and CP Rail and although Alberta One-Call's office was located just outside the EPZ, we closed our office once again and failed-over to our work-at- home staff to manage incoming locate requests. The next day, staff once again returned to the office and resumed Alberta One-Call's critical damage prevention and public safety role but the events had an impact on our staff. "We were so close to the areas that were badly damaged", says Kassi Zaba, Alberta One-Call's Member Services Assistant. "I can literally look downhill from our office and see the submerged Stampede grounds". Kassi wasn't alone. "It was a tremendous event", says Gary Laycraft - Alberta One-Call's Accountant. "As Calgarians, we were all affected by the flood but some of our staff were directly impacted and forced out of their homes. For them, the tragedy is beyond description". "Gary's right", says Kassi, "every single one of us wanted to help our friends, neighbours and fellow Albertans - and so many of us did. At the same time, just by doing our jobs, we were fortunate to provide a service directly tied to restoration efforts. Just by going to work every day and doing our jobs, we're helping homeowners and businesses get back on track with their lives". The pride Alberta One-Call employees have shown during this difficult time is only a fraction of the goodwill witnessed across the province and across Canada. On behalf of Alberta One-Call, our Board of Directors and all of our members, thank you to every volunteer who made a difference these past few weeks and continues to do so. Your support will never be forgotten. ABCGA: An Update The Alberta Common Ground Alliance has undergone some big changes in the past two years and its calculated evolution continues. What began as a utility locating and coordination council many years ago shifted to a formidable "Damage Prevention Council" in the '90s and then became the Alberta Common Ground Alliance in the mid-2000s. "Alberta has always had a strong damage prevention presence and commitment", says its Chair Brad Watson, "and that's a direct result of the province's oil and gas leadership. As the general public's education and awareness of Alberta's buried infrastructure grows, however, so must the efforts and relevance of the ABCGA." Watson is right. There is a growing awareness of Alberta's role in the Canadian and global economy. There is a thirst for safe and reliable energy around the world but there is also a strong demand for responsibility at every level. "We can't ignore our responsibility to public, worker and community safety" continues Watson, "and that goes for all of us - not just those who own and operate buried utilities. We all have a role to play in safety, environmental stewardship and of course, preventing damage to our energy and utility network. That's what the ABCGA is all about - developing and promoting a common understanding of everyone's role in the damage prevention process and the commitment to get better at it everyday." Membership in the ABCGA includes members of the digging community, regulators, owners and operators of buried infrastructure, training organizations and of course, Alberta One-Call Corporation. Membership is open to any individual, company or organization interested in preventing damage to Alberta's buried infrastructure; and there is only one criteria to being a member - support and promote the Best Practices. "The Best Practices represent the best methods of preventing damage to buried infrastructure" explains Brad. "They go beyond the minimum requirements of regulation and were developed by all of us - the Common Ground Alliance. In order for a Best Practice to be implemented, it must have consensus approval. That way, nobody can say they weren't aware or involved in the development of the practice and it's impossible to ignore." So what's motivating the ABCGA to evolve again? "It's fairly simple, actually", says Brad. "We have to achieve 'Best in Class'. We are entering a moment in history where all eyes are turning to friendly energy and Alberta figures prominently in that solution. We need to take every reasonable step to ensure the integrity of our buried infrastructure and that means damage prevention legislation whereby if you own or operate buried utilities, you must register them with Alberta One-Call - no exceptions. And, by the same token, if you're going to dig, you need to contact Alberta One-Call - no exceptions." How does the ABCGA work? Who does the work? "Every person on the ABCGA gives their time to the cause and they are a passionate bunch!", says Brad. "We've achieved some great things in Alberta but our results are limited to the time donated by our members. In order to meet the changing demands of an informed public, we need to move more quickly to the next level and bring in full-time staff to manage our goals and successfully achieve them. We have a diverse system where various buried utilities are governed by different regulators both provincially and federally and we need someone to work with all of them, all the time, to reach our goals. They need to have our agenda firmly placed on their radar screen. You can't do that in your spare time." Once again, Brad and the ABCGA couldn't be more right. Alberta is - without a shadow of a doubt - a key contributor to the Canadian economy and the same could be said with respect to the world economy. It is also a leader in Safety. From a design and operations perspective, delegates from all over the world routinely come to Canada and Alberta to learn how we build and operate our buried infrastructure. From a damage prevention perspective, however, we remain important but we are no longer leaders. Despite the comfort of a strong and well-established One-Call system in Alberta (over 720 members), we've only achieved partial legislation. Pipelines governed by the Alberta Energy Regulator are required to register their facilities with Alberta One-Call but no other buried facility regulator requires the same. "It's hard to stand behind the word 'Leader' when we aren't universally mandating owners and operators of buried infrastructure to register their facilities with Alberta One-Call and we aren't universally mandating the digging public to Call or Click Before You Dig" says Brad. "It is the foundational starting point for an effective damage prevention process and to be perfectly blunt, a no-brainer with regard to maintaining the integrity of Alberta's energy and utility network. The eyes of the world are upon us and we need to do everything in our power to maintain the integrity of our buried infrastructure. Anything less would be irresponsible." CSA Z247 - Damage Prevention for Energy and Utility Networks Across Canada is a complex maze of pipes and cables - all buried underground. There is a tremendous level of confidence shared by us, the users, as well as the owners, operators and the regulators, that those buried utilities will always be there for us; delivering power and communication services to our homes and businesses, and supporting our way of life.