The long-planned permanent memorial at the site of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash has run into another delay. At its regular monthly meeting, Humboldt City Council heard a report presented by the Broncos Memorial Committee. That report indicated that a phase 2 environmental study would need to be undertaken given that the proposed site at the junctions of Highways 35 and 335 once housed fuel containers and a gas station/garage.  

The recommendation, on the advice of engineering firm P. Machibroda, indicated that an environmental site assessment (ESA) on any location that’s housed a fuel facility is standard practice. Since the initial design of the memorial site calls for some shallow excavation in a corner area, an assessment must be done in order for the work to proceed.  

Cost of the assessment was listed at $19,725, which would be taken from the Memorials Reserve.  

Councillor Roger Nordick inquired about the length of the delay. He was informed that if the assessment were to proceed, the results would be available in approximately three weeks. However, if the assessment indicated contamination that required extensive site amelioration, then the delay could be indefinite as the cost of the remediation would need to be factored into the project.  

“The guidance we’ve been given from the committee members who are looking after that is the project can’t proceed without this,” responded Councillor Larry Jorgenson, talking about the assessment and any subsequent work. “Their hope is it won’t affect the project and that they’ll be able to proceed with construction this year, but there’s nothing we can do if it comes back and it gets buried in red tape. They need this to get sign off from all the parties.” 

Given the imperative to proceed with an assessment to keep the project moving, Council adopted the recommendation.