Task force probe blackout

2003-08-16 10:04

Toronto - Canada and the United States formed a joint task force to investigate what caused the huge North American power blackout and how to prevent it from happening again.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien's office announced the task force on Friday after Chretien spoke by phone with US President George Bush on the outage that left 50 million people on both sides of the border without power.

"Canada and the United States agreed to form a joint task force to identify the causes of the recent power outage that affected North America and to seek solutions to help prevent future outages," said a statement read by Thoren Hudyma, a spokesperson for Chretien.

The task force to be chaired by US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Canadian Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal would begin work immediately, though no timeframe was set for its work, Hudyma said.

During the 10-minute phone call initiated by Bush, she said, the US president said the two countries needed a solution to the problem presented by aging power grids they share.

Lights came back on Friday across a swath of central Canada hit by the blackout but in the aftermath of the biggest outage in North American history was disrupted travel and pleas for people to use as little electricity as possible.

Chretien, in his first statement since the outage occurred a day earlier, said he would speak to Bush later and praised cooperation between the North American neighbours in dealing with the crisis.

Accusations

His tone differed from earlier accusations traded by Canadian and US officials about who was to blame for the outage.

Earlier, Canadian Defense Minister John McCallum said Canadian and US security officials will review what caused the huge blackout to examine how to protect against future outages.

He said Deputy Prime Minister John Manley and US Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge spoke after the blackouts and "discussed the need for an early review of the circumstances of this event in the context of our common and national security objectives."

Police in Toronto and Ottawa, Canada's capital, reported looting and other crime during the night of darkened streets, and authorities advised people to stay home if possible on Friday.

Ontario Premier Ernie Eves said electricity generation was at 50 percent capacity on Friday morning and expected to reach two-thirds capacity by the end of the day.

Eves declared a state of emergency in Canada's most populous province after the blackout in southern Ontario, where most of the 10 million residents live.

But much like New York and other cities affected in the United States, Toronto and other Canadian cities appeared to handle the sudden disruption with relative calm.

On Friday, downtown streets were filled with people heading to work or taking a day off at the advice of city officials seeking to ease the burden on already stressed services.

Laurie Koss, 46, a computer technology worker for CIBC bank, said she was happy to go to her air-conditioned office on a day when temperatures reached 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit).

Looting

"I'm tired, but we just have to get on and deal with it," she said.

In Toronto, police made 38 arrests overnight linked to the blackout and reported 114 incidents, mostly for looting and other thefts, said constable Mike Hayles. The city fire department received more than 1 400 calls, with five substantial fires reported.

Ottawa police reported 23 cases of looting, along with two deaths possibly attributed to the outage - a pedestrian hit by a car and a fire victim.

The blackout meant cancellations for travelers.

"The situation is still somewhat fragile," airline spokeswoman Laura Cooke said of the problem at Canada's biggest airport. "The operation system is here in Toronto but it affects flights across the system."

In Sudbury, Ontario, 210 miles (338 kilometers) north of Toronto, more than 100 miners at a nickel mine spent the night in underground lunchrooms because the outage halted elevators to bring them to the surface. They were brought to the surface on Friday morning.

The blackout in Canada stretched all the way from Windsor, across the border from Detroit, to Ottawa, on the eastern edge of Ontario. It did not extend beyond Lake Superior to northwestern Ontario.

- AP