Life in the Heartland event well attended

Megan Suitor

Thursday evening saw the in-person return for Life in the Heartland’s Information event held at Pembina Place in Redwater. With the event having been held virtually for the past two years due to Covid restrictions, it was an exciting time for the organizers to get back to seeing the community and industry representatives in person.

“We are really happy we were able to pivot to a virtual format during the pandemic,” said Sheena Fitzpatrick, Community Engagement Officer for Life in the Heartland. “The event was really well attended online, but we are excited to be back in person.”

The in-person event was well attended by residents, members of town council and Town of Redwater mayor Dave McRae.

“Our partnership with the Alberta Industrial Heartland and Life in the Heartland is extremely important to our residents, our community and our environment. We’re happy to work with these partners to improve the quality of life for all residents,” said McRae.

The information evening was presented in two parts. There were booths by approximately a dozen companies offering information and swag to those in attendance. Residents were encouraged to approach industry representatives with any and all questions.

“Our goal is to create an open opportunity for Life in the Heartland to engage with the community,” said Fitzpatrick.

Alyssa Carson, Head of Sustainability with Sherritt said that there were a number of common questions they were being asked by community members.

“How is business and are you busy are two questions we’ve received a few times,” she explained. “We’ve also had a number of questions about employment opportunities available.”

Before the presentations began, residents were free to visit booths, asking questions of many of the industry representatives that were not presenting.

Community member Al Montpellier voiced a question that he believed many residents were curious about to Brenda Gheran, the Executive Director of Northeast Region Community Awareness Emergency Response (NRCAER).

“In regard to the various monitoring organizations, everyone knows that they monitor the air. Everyone understands the role they play as stand-alone organizations, but how do they work together?”

“We are all meeting on a regular basis to exchange information and data,” responded Gheran. “We are constantly updating each other.”

The second part of the evening consisted of presentations by four companies, North West Redwater Partnership (NWR), Inter Pipeline, Pembina Pipeline Corporation and the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER). Industry representatives updated those in attendance on events over the past year, such as the first turnaround at NWR, the commissioning of plants at Inter Pipeline, and new areas of regulation for AER. With the large number of community members in attendance, questions were held until after all the presentations were complete. Door prizes were graciously donated by a number of the companies in attendance.