Sundance Lake Loop · Chapter 5 of 6

The cold snap

January - April 2026

Five days below -40 °C, a promise made over the phone, and an invoice that almost gets paid twice.

Project records
December progress report

Monthly construction progress report to the CER for December: matting complete, grading complete, welding 41%, lowering-in 12%. One first-aid injury (hand laceration). No environmental non-compliances.

Filed under:sundance/shared
Field report: cold-weather stoppage

Field report, 18 January. Temperatures below -40 °C from the morning of 13 January to the evening of 17 January. Work stopped on the PM's direction for five days under the cold-weather clause. Crews stayed in camp. Work resumed 18 January.

Filed under:sundance/shared
Phone call
Wes HaldaneDarcy Lund (no assistant)
Darcy Lund to Wes Haldane · 07:30
Morning, Wes. We're finally getting the guys back out on the right-of-way today, but having the whole spread sitting in camp for five days was a massive hit for us.
Wes Haldane to Darcy Lund · 07:31
I know, Darcy, it was miserable sitting on our hands. Look, don't worry about it - we'll make sure you guys get looked after on the back end, so just focus on getting the iron rolling this morning.
Assistant's note: Five days of spread standby will exceed your $25,000 field approval limit and requires a signed change order before Chinook can commit to payment. Work performed without an approved PO will require an after-the-fact justification through supply chain.
Recalled from:conversation memory 10 items
Darcy Lund to Wes Haldane · 07:32
Appreciate that, Wes. We've got the sidebooms warming up now and the ditching crew is heading out to kilometer twelve as we speak.
Wes Haldane to Darcy Lund · 07:33
Sounds good. Keep everybody warm, watch your footing on that muskeg, and let's see how much ditch we can open up before dark.
Assistant's note: Remember that any standby costs or compensation for the five-day weather delay exceeding your $25,000 field authority will require a signed change order before processing in SAP.
Recalled from:conversation memory 9 items
Darcy Lund to Wes Haldane · 07:34
Will do, Wes. We'll get after it today and I'll touch base with you later this afternoon to let you know how we made out.
Wes Haldane to Darcy Lund · 07:35
Sounds good, Darcy. Stay safe out there today and we'll talk later.
Recalled from:conversation memory 10 items
Project records
Muskeg invoice 4471

Muskeg Mainline Constructors invoice 4471 against PO 4500087312, January progress: $18,960,000 progress plus cold-weather standby 13-17 January, 5 days at $38,400 = $192,000. Total $19,152,000.

Filed under:invoices/queueorvendor/muskeg
January progress report

Monthly construction progress report to the CER for January: welding 86%, lowering-in 55%, backfill 30%. Five-day cold-weather stoppage 13-17 January. No safety incidents. No environmental non-compliances.

Filed under:sundance/shared
Teams chat
Jordan KowalczykPriya Raman
Jordan Kowalczyk to Priya Raman · 09:10
Morning Priya, I'm reviewing Muskeg Mainline Constructors' invoice 4471 against the rate sheet and caught an issue on their standby line. They billed 5 days of cold-weather standby for January 13 to 17, but the contract only pays out after a 48-hour threshold, so it should only be 3 days.
Recalled from:invoices/queue or vendor/muskeg 1 itemconversation memory 6 itemsprivate notes 2 itemsinvoices/queue 1 item
Jordan Kowalczyk to Priya Raman · 09:13
I actually already released the $18,960,000 progress portion this morning before spotting the standby line. We'll need to figure out how to handle the 2-day difference - that's a $76,800 overbill on their side.
Recalled from:invoices/queue or vendor/muskeg 1 itemconversation memory 5 itemssundance/shared 1 itemcontracts/mainline or vendor/muskeg 1 item
Priya Raman to Jordan Kowalczyk · 09:16
Is there an approved change order or PO line set up for that cold-weather standby? Even at 3 days that comes to $115,200, which is well over Wes's $25,000 field limit, and I don't see anything in SAP to match against it.
Assistant's note: At $38,400 per day ($115,200 for 3 days), standby exceeds the $25,000 field approval limit and requires a signed change order and PO line item before the remaining invoice amount can post in SAP.
Recalled from:conversation memory 9 itemsinvoices/queue or vendor/muskeg 1 item
Jordan Kowalczyk to Priya Raman · 09:19
I checked SAP and there's nothing in there - no approved change order and nothing pending or drafted for this standby either.
Recalled from:conversation memory 8 itemscontracts/mainline or vendor/muskeg 1 itemsundance/changes or vendor/muskeg 1 item
Priya Raman to Jordan Kowalczyk · 09:22
Then we definitely cannot approve or post that standby line in SAP without a signed change order and a PO amendment. Could you raise this with Tomás and Wes today so they can get it sorted out with Muskeg?
Recalled from:conversation memory 7 itemsprivate notes 1 item
Jordan Kowalczyk to Priya Raman · 09:25
Will do. I'll reach out to Tomás and Wes right away so they can address the missing change order, PO amendment, and the 2-day overbill with Muskeg before that standby line goes anywhere.
Recalled from:conversation memory 4 itemsinvoices/queue or vendor/muskeg 1 item
Email
Jordan KowalczykTomás FerreiraWes Haldane
Jordan Kowalczyk to Tomás Ferreira, Wes Haldane · 08:00
Hi Tomás, Wes,

I’m reviewing Muskeg Mainline Constructors’ invoice 4471 against PO 4500087312 and flagged an issue on the standby line. They billed 5 days of cold-weather standby for January 13-17 at $38,400/day ($192,000), but under the PO terms, weather standby only pays out after a 48-hour deductible at the contractor's risk. That 2-day difference ($76,800) needs to be rejected, leaving 3 payable days at $115,200. Furthermore, we don't have an approved change order or PO line set up in SAP to match the $115,200, which exceeds Wes’s $25,000 field limit. We cannot post or pay the standby portion until we have an executed change order and PO amendment in place, alongside a corrected invoice from Muskeg.
Assistant's note: Because the 3 payable standby days total $115,200, it exceeds Wes's $25,000 field approval authority and requires an executed change order and PO amendment before SAP can post payment.
Recalled from:conversation memory 5 itemsinvoices/queue or vendor/muskeg 1 itemcontracts/mainline or vendor/muskeg 1 item
Tomás Ferreira to Jordan Kowalczyk, Wes Haldane · 08:45
Hi Jordan, Wes,

Jordan is spot on. Under PO 4500087312, weather standby is only payable after the first 48 consecutive hours at the contractor's risk, so Muskeg cannot bill for those initial two days. At $115,200, this sits well above Wes's $25,000 field limit, meaning we will need a formal, fully approved change order and an SAP PO amendment pushed through before finance can touch it. Muskeg will need to submit the change order request and provide a revised invoice reflecting the corrected 3-day total of $115,200 before we can post anything.

Regards,
Tomás
Assistant's note: Because the $115,200 standby balance exceeds Wes's $25,000 field limit, it requires director sign-off on the change order and an updated SAP PO before finance can process the revised invoice.
Recalled from:conversation memory 5 itemscontracts/mainline or vendor/muskeg 1 item
Wes Haldane to Jordan Kowalczyk, Tomás Ferreira · 09:30
Hi Jordan, Tomás,

Fair enough, I agree with your reading of PO 4500087312. At $115,200 for the 3 payable days, it is well past my $25,000 field limit, so we definitely need Muskeg to send over a change order request and a revised invoice before we can set up the PO amendment in SAP. I'll get in touch with Darcy today to walk him through it so he knows what needs to happen.

Wes
Reviewed by the assistant before sending

Jordan Kowalczyk and Tomás Ferreira were not part of this conversation. conversation memory of Wes Haldane

Jordan Kowalczyk and Tomás Ferreira cannot read person/wes. person/wes

Suggested: Confirm agreement with Jordan and Tomás regarding the contract terms under PO 4500087312: Muskeg is only entitled to 3 days ($115,200) after the 48-hour deductible, and they must submit a change order request and a revised invoice before any SAP PO amendment or payment can be processed.

Recalled from:private notes 2 itemsconversation memory 3 items
Wes Haldane to Jordan Kowalczyk, Tomás Ferreira · 10:15
Hi Jordan, Tomás,

To give you some background, Darcy called me on the morning of January 19 when they were getting the spread moving again. I gave him some general reassurance that Chinook would look after them just to keep things rolling, and looking back at my notes from that day, I can see how he took that as coverage for all five days. I didn't formally approve five days - that’s well past my $25,000 field limit anyway - so we'll stick to the contract terms for the 3 payable days ($115,200). I'll phone Darcy, explain the deductible, and get them to send the change order request and revised invoice.

Wes
Reviewed by the assistant before sending

Jordan Kowalczyk and Tomás Ferreira were not participants in that conversation. conversation memory of Wes Haldane

Suggested: You can inform Jordan and Tomás that during your 19 January morning call, you gave Darcy general reassurance to get crews moving, which he may have misinterpreted as full standby coverage. Clarify that you did not formally approve five days ($192,000), which exceeds your $25,000 field authority, and confirm that Chinook will uphold the contract terms requiring a change order request and revised invoice for the 3 payable days ($115,200).

Recalled from:private notes 2 itemsconversation memory 1 item
Tomás Ferreira to Jordan Kowalczyk, Wes Haldane · 11:00
Hi Wes,

Thanks, I appreciate you having that conversation with Darcy. Once Muskeg is clear on the 48-hour deductible, having them submit the formal change order request and the revised invoice for $115,200 promptly will let us get the change order executed and amend the PO in SAP so Jordan can process it.

Regards,
Tomás
Recalled from:conversation memory 4 items
Wes Haldane to Jordan Kowalczyk, Tomás Ferreira · 11:45
Hi Tomás, Jordan,

I'm dialing Darcy right now to walk him through the 48-hour deductible and have Muskeg send over the change order request and revised invoice for the $115,200. I'll let you know as soon as we've talked.

Wes
Recalled from:conversation memory 5 items
Phone call
Wes HaldaneDarcy Lund (no assistant)
Wes Haldane to Darcy Lund · 16:00
Hey Darcy, got a minute? I'm looking at the standby from that weather shutdown, and under our contract terms, the first 48 hours of weather standby are at your risk before Chinook starts picking it up.
Recalled from:conversation memory 8 itemsprivate notes 2 items
Darcy Lund to Wes Haldane · 16:01
Come on, Wes, that's not what we talked about out on the right-of-way. You told me straight up you'd look after us if the deep freeze shut the spread down.
Wes Haldane to Darcy Lund · 16:02
I did tell you that, Darcy, and I stand by it. But looking after you means paying you for every single day the contract actually permits, and getting a signed change order pushed through so you get that cash promptly.
Assistant's note: Muskeg must submit a change order request and a revised invoice for the 3 payable days ($115,200) before supply chain can amend the PO and finance can process payment.
Recalled from:conversation memory 8 itemsprivate notes 2 items
Darcy Lund to Wes Haldane · 16:03
Fair enough, Wes. Get CO-03 executed on your end and I'll have accounting back out those two days and reissue the invoice.
Wes Haldane to Darcy Lund · 16:04
Appreciate that, Darcy. I'll get CO-03 pushed through and signed on my end today so we can get this wrapped up.
Assistant's note: At $115,200, CO-03 exceeds your $25,000 PM field approval threshold and requires director sign-off before supply chain can amend the PO.
Recalled from:conversation memory 7 itemsprivate notes 1 item
Darcy Lund to Wes Haldane · 16:05
Sounds good, Wes. I'll watch for the signed copy and send over the revised invoice as soon as it lands.
Project records
CO-03 cold-weather standby

Change order CO-03: cold-weather standby 13-17 January under the cold-weather clause of PO 4500087312. Payable from hour 48 of the stoppage: 3 days at $38,400 = $115,200. Signed by the PM and the director of projects on 11 February. Muskeg to reissue invoice 4471 for the corrected amount.

Filed under:sundance/changesorvendor/muskeg
Muskeg invoice 4471-R

Muskeg Mainline Constructors invoice 4471-R against PO 4500087312, January progress, revised: $18,960,000 progress plus cold-weather standby under CO-03, $115,200. Total $19,075,200. Replaces invoice 4471.

Filed under:invoices/queueorvendor/muskeg
Approved for the 26 February payment run

Approved for the 26 February payment run against PO 4500087312: invoice 4471, $19,152,000 (approved 3 February, before the standby question was raised) and invoice 4471-R, $19,075,200.

Filed under:invoices/approved
Teams chat
Jordan KowalczykLinh Tran
Linh Tran to Jordan Kowalczyk · 15:30
Hi Jordan, I have two approved invoices from Muskeg queued for the February 26 payment run against PO 4500087312: 4471 for $19,152,000 and 4471-R for $19,075,200. Can you confirm if 4471 should be removed so we're only paying the revised 4471-R?
Assistant's note: Both original invoice 4471 ($19,152,000) and revised invoice 4471-R ($19,075,200) are currently marked approved for the 26 February run, which would cause a duplicate payment if 4471 is not pulled.
Recalled from:invoices/approved 2 itemsconversation memory 4 itemspayments or vendor/bouchard 1 itemsundance/shared 2 itemsprivate notes 1 item
Jordan Kowalczyk to Linh Tran · 15:33
Yes, please remove invoice 4471. It was approved back on February 3 before we caught the standby issue, and 4471-R replaces it completely for the February 26 run. Can you make sure 4471 is blocked or cancelled in SAP so it doesn't get picked up later?
Assistant's note: Make sure invoice 4471 is also cancelled or blocked in SAP so it does not get picked up on a subsequent payment run.
Recalled from:invoices/queue or vendor/muskeg 1 itemconversation memory 5 items
Linh Tran to Jordan Kowalczyk · 15:36
I've placed a payment block on invoice 4471 in SAP, so only 4471-R will go out in the February 26 run. Can you reverse your approval on 4471 in the system as well so it doesn't feed back into future payment proposals?
Recalled from:conversation memory 1 item
Jordan Kowalczyk to Linh Tran · 15:39
Done, I just reversed the approval on 4471 in SAP. Good catch on that queue - paying both would have pushed out roughly $19.2M twice.
Recalled from:conversation memory 3 itemsprivate notes 1 iteminvoices/approved 1 item
Linh Tran to Jordan Kowalczyk · 15:42
Thanks Jordan. The queue is all clear now - only 4471-R ($19,075,200) will be processed in the February 26 run. Dodging an extra $19M+ duplicate payout is definitely a relief.
Recalled from:conversation memory 6 itemsprivate notes 2 itemsinvoices/approved 2 items
Jordan Kowalczyk to Linh Tran · 15:45
Sounds good, thanks for getting that sorted so quickly. Definitely a huge save catching that before Thursday's run goes out.
Recalled from:conversation memory 9 itemsinvoices/approved 1 item
Project records
Payment block on invoice 4471

Payment block set on Muskeg invoice 4471 ($19,152,000) at the project administrator's request: superseded by 4471-R. Invoice 4471 to be reversed. Invoice 4471-R stays in the 26 February run.

Filed under:payments
Payment run 26 February

Payment run 26 February: Muskeg Mainline Constructors invoice 4471-R, $19,075,200 less 10% holdback, paid by electronic funds transfer. Invoice 4471 reversed.

Filed under:paymentsorvendor/muskeg
Teams call
Priya RamanJordan Kowalczyk
Priya Raman to Jordan Kowalczyk · 15:00
Hi Jordan, I'm working through our February month-end cut-off. Do you know if CO-03 for that cold-weather standby has been invoiced and paid yet?
Assistant's note: Both original invoice 4471 ($19,152,000) and replacement invoice 4471-R ($19,075,200) were approved for the February 26 payment run, posing an immediate duplicate payment issue.
Recalled from:conversation memory 8 itemssundance/changes or vendor/muskeg 1 item
Jordan Kowalczyk to Priya Raman · 15:01
Yes, it went out yesterday on the February 26th payment run. We paid revised invoice 4471-R with the $115,200 included, and the original 4471 was reversed.
Recalled from:payments or vendor/muskeg 1 itemconversation memory 2 itemssundance/changes or vendor/muskeg 1 item
Priya Raman to Jordan Kowalczyk · 15:02
Good to know that's cleared up. What does Muskeg still have unbilled for February that we need to account for?
Recalled from:conversation memory 4 itemsprivate notes 1 iteminvoices/queue or vendor/muskeg 1 itemsundance/changes or vendor/muskeg 1 iteminvoices/approved 1 item
Jordan Kowalczyk to Priya Raman · 15:03
Muskeg hasn't submitted their February progress claim yet. They usually don't get that billing in until early next week.
Recalled from:conversation memory 4 itemsinvoices/queue or vendor/muskeg 2 items
Priya Raman to Jordan Kowalczyk · 15:04
Okay, thanks Jordan. I'll post an accrual for Muskeg's February progress using their latest forecast so we're properly covered for month-end.
Recalled from:conversation memory 4 itemssundance/cost 2 items
Jordan Kowalczyk to Priya Raman · 15:05
Sounds good. As soon as their progress invoice comes in next week, I'll review it and send it right over to you.
Recalled from:conversation memory 4 itemssundance/cost 1 item
Project records
February accrual

February month-end accrual: $9.8M of work done but not invoiced, including CO-03 cold-weather standby now invoiced and excluded. Forecast at completion $140.2M; contingency remaining $3.1M.

Filed under:sundance/cost
Hydrostatic test passed

Hydrostatic test of the full 32.3 km completed 9 March using water from Sundance Lake hauled over the winter road. Test passed with no leaks.

Filed under:sundance/shared
Leave to open

The CER granted leave to open the Sundance Lake Loop on 27 March.

Filed under:sundance/shared
In service

The Sundance Lake Loop went into service on 1 April 2026, on schedule.

Filed under:sundance/shared
Final cost

Sundance Lake Loop final cost $139.8M against the $141.5M budget. Mainline construction $88.2M lump sum plus change orders. Three change orders in total: CO-01 hydrotest water source $63,200 actual, CO-02 extra matting $212,000, CO-03 cold-weather standby $115,200.

Filed under:sundance/cost