Meeting provides hope for return of gas plant funding

Turner Valley Mayor Kelly Tuck is encouraged that funding for restoration work and environmental clean up at the Turner Valley Gas Plant will be restored following a meeting with Alberta Community Development (ACD) Minister, Gene Zwodesky Nov. 13.
Tuck was told she will be notified in the next three weeks as to how much money will be given to the ACD for the gas plant.
'It was a very positive meeting,' Tuck said.
The ACD has controlled and operated the gas plant since 1985 when the site was declared a federal historic site.
The Turner Valley Oilfields Society is also dedicated to the restoration of the gas plant.
Highwood MLA Don Tannas joined Tuck at the meeting in support of reinstating the funds.
'I think what Don Tannas had to say had a good impact,' Tuck said. 'His support of the project was well heard (by Zwodesky),'
Tuck, Tannas and Jim McCreary, a member of the Oilfields society, met with the Minister for over an hour to discuss the history of the gas plant and the importance of reinstating funding through the province's Legacy Program.
Originally $5 million of Legacy funding was promised, however, the ACD had received only $500,000 when the province announced that the Legacy Program was to be halted due to the uncertain financial climate following the Sept. 11 attack.
Tuck said she felt the Minister understood the necessity of petitioning the Klein government to reinstate the funding for the gas plant.
'I feel confident we are going to get the money,' she said adding that all of the outstanding $4.5 million may not be returned to the gas plant restoration project. The funding also may come in disbursements.
Tuck said receiving a funding commitment is important because once the province commits, the federal government will have to make good on its promise to match the provincial funding.
Gary Duguay, manager of the Turner Valley Gas Plant for the ACD, said that clean up of some ground storage tanks and asbestos abatement has taken place using the initial Legacy Program funding but more needs to be done to ensure all the hydro carbons and other toxic material left at the site are contained and removed.
'We are looking at a long-term containment and cleanup plan,' Duguay said.
Continued restoration of the site is also a priority, he added, noting that when the funding was first announced $3 million was earmarked for restoration work and $2 million was to go towards environmental assessment and clean up.
Duguay said if funding is restored the ACD will continue where it left off by cleaning up the site and the buildings.

By Darlene Casten
Staff reporter
From, the OKOTOKS WESTERN WHEEL, November 20, 2002