Save the Bala Falls

As detailed here, on June 20, 2020 a good Samaritan had to dive into the Bala north channel to save an unconscious and submerged woman. Had the Bala hydro-electric generating station been operating faster both could have been drowned.

On July 15, 2020 SwiftRiverEnergyLtd sent a Tweet responding to a media article about this “near miss” incident: “Someone gets drunk, plays on the highway, puts themselves at risk, and somehow the people who built the road are to blame? ”

The difference is that highway emergency responders can instantly take control of the situation, stop traffic, and make the area safe by simply setting up caution flags, parking their vehicles and turning on their warning lights. This equipment is carried by all emergency responders and these procedures are well-established.

But for a person under water, seconds matter and emergency responders will not arrive soon enough. Emergency responders could not even take control of the situation and make the area safe until the generating station operator has been contacted and has shut down the station. This would not happen in time to save a life. There is no “emergency off button” for emergency responders so all they could do is wait while the victim drowns or risk their own lives by attempting a rescue.

Swift River Energy Limited has created a drowning waiting to happen by building an extremely dangerous facility in the middle of a popular in-water recreational area and operating it during the summer when people are known to swim and Scuba dive in the immediate area and outside of their “safety booms”. Yet Swift River Energy Limited apparently believes that if they cause a drowning it will be the victim’s fault. In this case Swift River Energy Limited’s Bala north dam hydro-electric generating station could have drowned a good Samaritan who was doing all that was possible to save a life.

This was a “near miss” incident, showing that it takes too long for emergency responders to arrive, and when they do arrive they do not have the ability to immediately begin a rescue as the Bala hydro-electric generating station is too dangerous even for emergency responders.

The next step after a “near miss” is a tragedy. This is why the Bala hydro-electric generating station should not be operated in the summer, as has been unanimously requested by the Council of the Township of Muskoka Lakes.

So yes, when you build a highway that risks the lives of emergency responders the people that built the road are to blame.