Responding to allegations that the flooding that hit parts of Mud Lake the previous week were exacerbated by a government project, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball promised that he would look into the matter.
The premier took a helicopter tour of the area on Monday to survey the damage and he later made himself available to the public for any questions and concerns.
“We need to get to the bottom of this and we will,” Ball told CBC after the tour. “The government will be there to support the people of Mud Lake and those impacted by last week’s flood.”
Ball revealed that although he was only able to reach out to the community of Mud Lake on Monday, he had been in “constant contact” with Environment Minister Eddie Joyce, MHA Perry Trimper and emergency services throughout the entire flooding ordeal.
“We have a number of inspectors on the ground, looking at electrical services over there today. [Newfoundland and Labrador] Hydro is over there. We have people looking at the water systems, the sewer systems,” Ball explained.
“So these are people now ready to respond with answers. We have insurance adjusters that are ready to move in now once the assessments are done.”
Numerous residents had suspected that the flooding was made worse due to Nalcor Energy’s Muskrat Falls dam project and shared their worries with Ball, who said he “understands their concerns.”
“If you’ve spent 60 years in those communities and you’ve never seen this before, I’d ask the same questions,” he stated. “I’m not here today to basically come with the answers. I’m here to answer [resident’s] questions, and I’m here to find out what happened and we’re going to keep people accountable.”
Officials with the energy company have repeatedly insisted that their operations were not to blame for the flooding.
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