With furnace oil delivery cancelled for St. Brendan's, residents grow concerned as winter draws near
Council hoping to see resolution before cold temperatures kick in
When seasonal resident Kevin Walsh replaced his oil tank at his home in St. Brendan's this summer, there was little risk.
Oil had been delivered to the Bonavista Bay island since he was a child growing up there, and he had no reason to think it wouldn't continue.
But things changed after he made that investment.
"I bought a new oil tank and had it installed and that, hoping that I was going to get another 10-to-15 years here for sure," he said. "I know the community has gone downhill a bit, but we like to keep it going.
"After I bought it, which was two months ago, I find that now that they're not going to deliver oil here anymore — which is a kick in the butt."
That kick was delivered to the 100 or so residents of St. Brendan's a few weeks ago. North Atlantic, the company delivering home heating oil, will no longer provide the service in St. Brendan's.
"The decision comes after months of reviewing alternative solutions," North Atlantic wrote in a prepared statement.
The company would not do an interview, but in the statement said it divested from its home heating business in various regions including Clarenville, Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Windsor, Marystown, Stephenville and the surrounding areas.
St. Brendan's marks the final divestment of North Atlantic's home heating business, which was announced in February 2024.
Mayor Bill Broderick says many residents rely on furnace oil to heat their home, most of them senior citizens who've relied on it for decades.
"We've had suppliers change before," he said. "There was two here, and then they split it up and let that one do it."
The commercial properties, such as the school, health clinic, post office and N.L. Hydro power plant, will continue to be refueled by North Atlantic. For people living there, this stings a little.
"They're still doing the commercial part of it, [and it] rubs people the wrong way," said Broderick, who also burns oil. "We've got to find a solution to this issue. The winter is coming on and people are anxious. Now, the rest of this community is anxious now — who's going to fill my tank?"
Jamie Aylward has lived in St. Brendan's most of his life. He works in the fishery and tries to play an active role in his community.
These days he's also the deputy mayor.
"A fair amount of our population is an elderly population and so now those people are left with no means of heat," he said. "I mean, we got 40-plus households here dependent on oil and at least half, if not more than half, of those is 100 per cent dependent [on oil] as a primary source of heat."
Hayward burns wood for most of his heat, but that doesn't diminish the importance of looking out to his friends and neighbours.
"Just to kind of leave us in the cold, no pun intended, it hurts a little to see that they would pull out with kind of no contingency plan," he said.
Customers such as Walsh hope a resolution is found soon, especially given the proximity to winter.
"I'm going to keep a close eye on this because I actually ordered oil a couple of weeks ago just to fill up my tank," he said. "So we'll see what happens there. But they haven't showed up with that yet."
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