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The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday September 10, 2003 - A7 Most expenses incurred in early hours of blackout T h e X - F a c t o r s (Continued from page A1) who was the acting C A O during the power crunch. Part o f the problem w ith the com pensation announcement is that the government didn't specify exactly how the claims system w ill work and how much w ill in fact be reimbursed. The election may have only muddied those compensation waters. An eight-page, wide-ranging report released publicly by the Region last week concludes that Halton spent between $500,000 and $750,000 to deal w ith the unprecedented power shortage. The financial impact pertained mostly to the few hours spent dealing w ith the crisis after the Aug. 14 black out hit shortly after 4 p.m. The report also highlighted how the Region's emergency response team sprang into action when the blackout hit. how officials communicated to res idents during the crisis and the sugges tions the Region made to businesses to reduce power usage w hile the province's power supply remained unstable. One o f the main areas impacted regionally by the power shortage was policing, which is a regional responsi b ility. A ll police officers on day-shift duty were held over the afternoon o f Aug. 14. The night shift was called in early and police was able to double the num ber o f staff working w ithin tw o hours. In addition, auxiliary officers were called in to help direct traffic gridlock due to malfunctioning lights and for the plainclothes detectives assigned to patrol darkened neighborhoods and business areas for security. Another cost was extra fuel needed for police vehicles. " A t no time was public safety com promised or police effectiveness mar ginalized," the report stated. Other areas affected, as noted in the report, include: · Ambulance services - also a regional responsibility - recalled man agement staff from vacation and held over administrative staff in order to meet demands fo r increased service. O ff-duty paramedics were called in and on-duty paramedics were held over at shift changes in order to staff four additional ambulances. · Extra fuel for generators was used to provide back-up power to water and sewage treatment plants when there was no electricity flow ing in Halton. · Regional health inspectors were dispatched to grocery stores and restaurants to ensure food disposal measures were being implemented. Staff was also in contact w ith local hospitals and w alk-in clinics to m oni tor potential food-borne illnesses due to the consumption o f spoiled food. None were reported. O fficials have said they' re fortunate the blackout hit about mid-way in the year because there should be enough wiggle room w ithin operating budgets o f the various regional departments to absorb the blackout costs. Compensation w ill help ensure region al dollars are kept in the appropriate budgets. From a positive point o f view, the report stated that trial runs held over the last two years to test the Region's emergency response team - which con sists o f regional, police, ambulance and hydro officials among others - helped ensure it worked effectively during this genuine crisis. The Region was also able to reduce its power consumption by 65 per cent follow ing the blackout, well above the Province's requested target o f 50 per cent. The government urged everyone to conserve as much electricity as pos sible while hydro officials worked for days to get regular d aily power restored to the province. The Region is also in the middle o f assessing how much energy it uses through administrative and operational means in an attempt to determine where potential future power savings could be found. The power blackout report is expected to be discussed today at the the Halton Region Adm inistration and Finance committee meeting at 1:30 p.m.. It's open to the public and is at the regional headquarters building at 1151 Bronte Road. sc h o o l Tax freedom zones in the Income Tax Act! T h u r s d a y , S e p t e m b e r 11 `^ a t 7 : 0 0 £ . 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