News

The December edition of the all-Canadian Health, Wellness, and Safety Newsletter is here!  Inside this month’s issue you'll find:

• When holiday cheer is needed most
• Vital necessities to check before the big freeze hits
• Mindfulness can help deal with holiday stress
• Avoid slippery skids this winter season
• Stuffy nose? You might not need an antibiotic!
• Three tips for decking your halls safely
• Common safety mistakes you should avoid
• Winter tires a safer option at this time of the year
• Think about security during the holidays
• Flammable and combustible liquids
• Get your vehicle and yourself winter ready
• 3 things you should know about pneumonia
• Gear up your family for fighting winter germs
• Tips for a healthy family vacation
• Time with kids home for the holidays
• The secret to happiness? Spend money on new experiences!
• Every step counts as you get older
• Training: First aid training is time well spent

Even the most hardened of us is guaranteed to snicker at these, or your money back.  You’ll find a variety of relevant subjects:

• Safety, health, wellness, fitness, environment, climate change
• Project management, human resources, finance, computers, customer service
• Weather, vacation, retirement, relationships, cell phones, dogs, you name it! 

Visit the PowerLine daily, have a chuckle, and get your day started right.  Then stay awhile and check out some of the other great resources HSE and the other Divisions have on the PowerLine for your benefit!

Stay safe and keep laughing!!!

General reference documents for our three hydro sites are now available on the Powerline under the Electricity 101 section.  They provide a brief introduction and general overview of each hydro site and were prepared by compiling information from various OMS Manuals, reports, and publications. These documents may be useful to provide to contractors, employees (especially new hires), regulators, or anyone that is not familiar with the hydroelectric sites.  Check them out!

Plant Superintendent Michael Greenland and the installation crew were all smiles this week after their first test of the new Variable Speed Generator (VSG) in Aklavik. The completed VSG project will be the first of its' kind in NTPC's fleet, and is expected to start supplying power to the community in December. 

Traditional landfarming of hydrocarbon impacted soil involves spreading out the soil and mixing it.  Landfarming allows naturally occurring bacteria to feed on the hydrocarbons and break them down into carbon dioxide and water.  This reduces and eventually eliminates the hydrocarbon impacts.  The remediation process can take several seasons, depending on levels of contamination, temperature, and growing season.  However, the naturally occurring bacteria has a hard time breaking down heavier fuel products, like at the Aklavik former plant site, and landfarming is not a viable option.

With the Aklavik former plant site remediation project, NTPC is therefore testing a fairly new methodology.  It has proven successful in northern Alberta but has not yet been used in the NWT.  It is like a landfarm, but with the introduction of additional hydrocarbon-eating bacteria and surfactants.  The special strains of bacteria aggressively break down the hydrocarbons, while the surfactants make difficult pockets of contamination more accessible.

Results from the first season of treatment show a moderate decrease in impacts; however it is too early to tell how effective this remediation technology will be.  If it proves successful, it could be a means to swift and cost effective remediation of contaminated sites around the north.