Flood damage | Without potable water, beef facility can’t resume operations
It will take a lot of maybes, crossed fingers and old-fashioned ingenuity to reopen Cargill’s beef packing plant in flood-damaged High River, Alta.
Cargill officials hope to pipe water from nearby creeks and streams and then use portable filtration and sanitation systems at the plant to turn the river water into potable water that can be used in the beef packing plant.
“There’s not a guarantee we’re going to get potable water,” said Chantelle Donahue, director of corporate affairs with Cargill Ltd.
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Doing nothing is not an option, she added.
Cargill officials thought the plant could get water from the town and treat it itself when the flood first knocked out High River’s water treatment plant.
However, it eventually became clear to Cargill that repairs to High River’s water system would take longer than anticipated and it would need to look at other options.
The town’s priority is getting water to its citizens and not the plant, Donahue said.
The company brought in portable filtration systems and is working with the province to secure the necessary licences to draw water from nearby creeks and streams.
“It’s extremely important to do what we can to get this plant up and running,” said provincial agriculture minister Verlyn Olson.
His department is working with officials from the environment department to get the appropriate permits to pump water from creeks, rivers and streams, he said during a news conference at the Cargill plant.
Alberta’s farms and ranches escaped the flooding relatively unscathed, Olson added, but the priority for the beef industry is to reopen the plant.
About one-third of Canada’s beef is slaughtered in the facility, and each day the plant doesn’t operate affects the entire cattle industry.
“People in the cattle industry … generally the No. 1 big thing they’re saying is get this plant open.”
Plant general manager Scott Entz said the facility is “pursuing alternatives” to produce potable water, but there is no guarantee the ideas will work.
“The key part is, can you get an adequate flow of potable water?” said Donahue.
She said the plant will look at bringing water in on rail cars or from local wells if it can’t get it from the rivers.
“The reality is we’ve got to get the plant up and running. It’s just a matter of how.”
The company hasn’t laid off any of its 2,000 workers. The flooding in High River affected about 260 employees.
Cargill said the amount of water it uses is considered competitive information.
