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By: Katlyn Streilein STAFF REPORTER Posted: 2:01 AM CDT Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2022
The ideal height from which an Air Tractor 502 — the most common plane used for crop-dusting — can spray a field is 13 foot above ground. A pilot will typically fly these planes at about 260 km/h, at a distance from the Earth comparable to the height of an average bungalow.
These tight margins and high speeds are why Dave Frisch, the co-owner of aerial application company Jonair (1988) Ltd., has concerns about Manitoba Hydro’s proposal to install a new transmission line in the area where his pilots fly.
“The lines do come up very quickly,” Frisch said.
Manitoba Hydro recently wrapped its public consultations regarding the new project it calls Dorsey to Wash’ake Mayzoon Transmission Line (D83W), which aims to feed reliable electricity to areas west of Winnipeg.
The 230-kV line would start at Dorsey Converter Station, located in the RM of Rosser near Provincial Road 236 and Rosser Road. It would end at the proposed Wash’ake Mayzoon Station, just west of Portage la Prairie.
Manitoba Hydro plans to use several design variations of a self-supporting lattice steel tower for this line. The majority of the towers will measure anywhere from 27 metres to 47 metres in height and six metres to 14 metres at the base.
The typical distance between towers is 385 metres — just shy of 2.6 towers per kilometre.
Beginning last fall, Manitoba Hydro held a campaign to inform the public of its plans for the line, including forums and surveys that invited concerned parties to voice their preferred route.
“When we plan a new transmission line, we balance the views of all concerned, including the impact on the environment and input from landowners, Indigenous communities, interested parties, and the public,” Bruce Owen, Manitoba Hydro’s media relations officer, said in an email statement.
Frisch, who deals in crop protection products (mostly fungicides, but some pesticides, too), believes a new line would cause recurring challenges for his company.
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“Power lines present an extra level of danger for our industry,” Frisch said. “The most important things to us are pilot safety and quality of application for the farmer.”
Frisch is particularly concerned about how D83W would impact his work — and the work of others — along “prime agricultural” lots stretching out from the Assiniboine River.
“They (the lines) create another nuisance for the farmers. It takes more time and costs more fuel to work around the power lines. The land becomes less efficient. They lose the ability to run irrigation on it. In some cases, you completely lose the ability to aerial apply,” Frisch said.
Owen responded to this concern by saying the proposed plan “minimizes diagonal crossing of farmland, avoids irrigated lands to the extent possible, avoids all private runways used for aerial application, and minimizes bisecting farms by paralleling road allowances for 65 per cent of its length.”
The next step for Manitoba Hydro is to file an Environmental Assessment Report with the Manitoba Government. If the application is successful, construction will begin in 2023.
For more information about D83W, visit www.hydro.mb.ca/pace
Katlyn Streilein is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. She can be reached by phone at 204-697-7132 or by email at katlyn.streilein@canstarnews.com
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