Norman Wells impact funding: boon or bust?

• Published in: Canadian Public Administration
• Main Author: Rees, William E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1989
• Subjects: Public Administration; Sociology and Political Science; Indian; Mackenzie Valley; Norman Wells
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-7121.1989.tb01345.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1754-7121.1989.tb01345.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1754-7121.1989.tb01345.x

Abstract: The Norman Wells project involved a tenfold expansion of the Norman Wells oilfield and construction of a 324‐mm (12‐inch) pipeline extending 870 kilometres up the Mackenzie Valley to northern Alberta. Completed in May 1985 after years of controversy, Norman Wells expansion was the first of several large hydrocarbon production and transportation projects likely to be completed in the Mackenzie Valley by the end of the century. Because of a highly innovative approach to project management, Norman Wells has been heralded as a model for future northern development projects. Construction was delayed seventeen months from the time of project approval in part to permit effective planning and the use of “special measures” during the construction phase. A major component of these special measures was the unique Norman Wells impact funding program set up to help manage negative effects and enable native involvement in the project. This paper assesses the planning and administration of two socioeconomic components of the impact funding program, using seven criteria drawn from the literature on socioeconomic monitoring and management. The subject programs failed to satisfy all but one criterion. Indeed, the administrative mechanisms used proved to be an serious impediment to effective socioeconomic impact management. This failure was rooted both in the politics of the impact funding package itself and in the historical modus operandi of the federal government, particularly the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, in the north. Sommaire: Le project Norman Wells comprenait l'expansion en 10 volets du champ pétrolifère du même nom et la construction d'un oléoduc de 324 mm de diamètre, s'étendant sur 870 kilomètres le long de la vallée Mackenzie jusqu'au nord de 1'Alberta. Ce projet, qui a été terminé en mai 1985 après des années de polémique, était le premier de plusieurs grands projets dans le secteur de la production et de l'acheminement des hydrocarbures à avoir toutes les chances d'être fini ...