Would you want to vacation at a resort whose lake captures oil from a spill? I would because I own at Gleniffer Lake Resort and Country Club. So far I haven’t seen oil, but I have seen the oil booms snaked across the lake and the 24/7 bright lights shining down on the far end of the lake where the operation’s headquarters buzz with activity.
My husband and I visited our cabin last weekend. In the pouring rain, we slowed as we crossed the dam. On our left the murky lake’s surface rippled in the rain. To our right the water gushed in a waterfall down the dam and out into the Red Deer River. We were one of a few people taking pictures and when we reached the resort, we were one of fewer who bothered to come. With the lousy spring weather and the oil spill looming, why come to the resort except to check on our cabin, escape the city and enjoy the solitude, take a stroll to the store for after dinner ice cream, to gaze out at the lake and the water birds landing, to sit on our porch and look through to the empty golf course where the ducks bob in the pond?
I will go up this weekend with my sons. Plains Midstream has trucked water in so we can drink from the tap and maybe even enjoy the indoor and outdoor pools still. On Saturday I will take them to the Medicine River Wildlife Centre to meet ‘Oily’ the baby beaver rescued from the Red Deer oil spill and a few of the luckier water birds. I will take my boys down to the lake to see if we can detect any oil on the water where normally at this time of year we’d throw sticks for the dog so he can exhaust himself swimming. He’ll be on leash this weekend just like we are.
I’ll attend an information session in the Landing, our community/entertainment hub at the resort. I don’t know what more I can find out besides the fact that Midstream is doing the best they can just like the residents who are making the best of a bad situation.
I guess I can use this as an educational moment for my kids. We need to protect the environment in balance with responsible oil extraction because realistically I wouldn’t be coming to my lake resort without a car that I fill up with fuel in Calgary. Although I don’t work in the industry, a lot or residents at the lake do. Maybe I can teach my kids about responsible stewardship of the environment. Maybe I can motivate myself out of sadness by pretending I have power to do something.
Of course it’ll be a whole lot easier if the mess is cleaned up by the time summer hits and we buy a boat or jet ski, and my husband looks to fish in the river. I’m not sure how much we’ll like our oil if the weather improves and the water is still in quarantine.
I’m pretty sure ‘Oily’ the beaver doesn’t like his name or the substance that landed him in a wildlife centre for humans like me to gawk at. But, I’ll take my kids, donate to their cause, and then head home to the resort where I’ll walk down to the lake. I will say a little prayer because, like a valued friend, I hope 'my' lake will recover soon.
