The City of Lloydminster and Cenovus Energy have signed off on an emergency response assistance agreement as of June of this year.
Speaking at the two-day conference Bordering on Disaster, Kevin Miciak, emergency management specialist with Cenovus Energy explains it’s important to have the protocol in place ahead of any emergency situation so that they could work collaboratively to respond whether it be with resources, equipment or expertise, involving both the city and the energy company.
“There’s is a notification process -an activation process that we have established with the City of Lloydminster and that connects us with the emergency management group within the city and gets that initial communication going and share that information with the public,” says Miciak.
Head of emergency management Andrew DeGruchy with the City of Lloydminster says the agreement is useful to streamline the process if either side needs to collaborate on any matter. Also, the city has 17 agreements in place with other communities under the Border Lands framework spelling out the steps to take if any community in the region is experiencing an emergency.
“What that help looks like and what the remittance for their help looks like. So, it just formalizes that process, and I think that exists a lot already. It’s just nice to have that agreement in place that here’s the people we can call if we need help. Certainly, in our area, the City of Lloydminster, the County of Vermilion River some of the RMs, we are all signed on to that Border Lands agreement, so we know we can help each other,” says DeGruchy.
Day two of the Bordering on Disaster conference sponsored by Cenovus Energy continues at the Lloyd Ex on Thursday.
