Happy Valley-Goose Bay wants inquiry, not just investigation into Churchill River flooding
'There are a lot of unanswered questions as to what contributed to this disaster,' says mayor
Happy Valley-Goose Bay town council doesn't just want an investigation to get to the root cause of what caused high water levels on the Churchill River — it wants a full public inquiry.
Those levels flooded out Mud Lake and lower-lying areas of Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
"There are a lot of unanswered questions as to what contributed to this disaster," said Mayor Jamie Snook.
"Many of those impacted by the flood believe there may be a connection with the possible release of water by Nalcor Energy from the Muskrat Falls reservoir, and they deserve to find out if this is indeed the case."
The town's council passed the motion unanimously at its meeting Tuesday.
Previous concerns
The town previously had concerns about Nalcor's conduct after the corporation released a large amount of water last November to make repairs to its cofferdam.
Representatives from the town said there wasn't adequate warning given.
"When the river changes that quickly and dramatically, that does pose threats to people that are using the river," Snook said at the time.
"If there's going to be changes to it, and there was ample opportunity to give us more notice, we should be given more notice."