Jade Fever (2015–…): Season 2, Episode 13 - Code Brown - full transcript

(clanking metal)

- [Claudia] Oh, oh, oh my god.

Up here near the Yukon in Jade City

we've got the World's richest deposits

of Nephrite Jade and the Chinese want it.

(laughter)

- [Josh] This is gonna be
the million dollar rock.

- [Claudia] Now we just have to find it.

(screaming)

I will dig til my hands bleed.

Woo, go!



(upbeat music)

- [Claudia] Jade makes
people do crazy things.

(laughter)

(ringing telephone)

- [Claudia] Hello, Jade City.

Yes it is, punch in that number.

Okay, you need to have a
code for these ones Sarah.

- Okay.

- [Narrator] In Jade City, BC,

mining season is also tourist season.

- Buh-bye, take care.

- [Narrator] And all summer people

stream into Claudia's Jade store.

- [Claudia] We have a very
short window of opportunity



in Jade City with our
tourism business and so every

penny that you can make
you're scrambling for.

Take care.
- You too, good luck.

- Thank you.

(chatter)

- [Narrator] But Claudia and Robin

are getting ready for a new venture.

- [Robin] Everything in
the back is good right?

- [Guy] Yeah.
- [Robin] Okay.

- [Narrator] After years
of running off a local

diesel generator Jade
City is being connected

to the power companies' lines.

- [Claudia] So now we're gonna have power

from one big plant and we have a great

opportunity to house
the guys and hopefully

we can make a little bit
of money on the side.

Jade city never stands still.

- [Narrator] The Bunce's
are setting up a work camp

to house the power company crew.

- Okay, that should be good.

- [Claudia] A lot of
money had to be put in,

everything had to be bought.

- Everything is good.

- [Claudia] We spent hundreds
of thousands of dollars.

- [Narrator] They've
brought in bunk houses

and expanded their cafe.

- [Claudia] I bought
pots and pans and food,

bedding, cleaning supplies, so much stuff.

- There's no more homo milk.
- [Claudia] Okay.

We have a lot of people
working as of right now.

A lot of money invested.

- [Narrator] But
accommodating a crew of 30

in such a small town is a big gamble.

- [Claudia] This is a
whole new thing for us.

Anything can happen.

(intense music)

- [Narrator] Up the highway
at the Dease Lake Landing

son Josh is getting ready for another

trip to the Wolverine Mine Site.

- [Josh] I'm just checking
the engine oil real quick.

Fire it up and hit the trail.

(revving engine)

Here we go again I guess.

- [Narrator] Josh has been hauling Jade

from the mine to Jade City all summer.

- [Josh] This road is truly no man's land.

It's like 127 kilometers,
takes approximately

eight to 12 hours, you
just gotta give her.

Oh my (bleep) God.

I've done like two or
three dozen trips so far.

Physically right now I could run a

marathon but mentally I'm exhausted.

I need a break when my
head hurts instead of being

on a trail where I'm forced to keep going.

I'm so excited man, I'm so excited.

(upbeat music)

- All righty, go to town?
- Go to town.

- [Narrator] Up the trail at Wolverine,

Josh's older brother
Justin and his cousin Devon

are working the saws
awaiting Josh's arrival.

- [Devon] Right now it's just
Justin and I that are here.

- [Justin] You've got to keep cutting

what we have stock piled up.

Okay.

(grinding saw)

- [Justin] Uh oh.

- [Narrator] But there's a problem.

- [Devon] Out of fuel.

I should check the level I
forgot to do it this morning.

- [Narrator] Before he refills the saws,

Devon checks the fuel tanks to make sure

that they have enough to keep mining.

- [Devon] Fuel level we're
sitting at right now,

we're just basically got a

need-to-do basis on the equipment.

We've gotta make sure we at least save an

eighth of a tank for the rock truck to

get back out to go get fuel.

At least we've got enough to
get the rock truck back out.

- [Narrator] There's only
enough fuel to keep mining

for a few days so they'll
need to turn around the

rock truck fast to refill
the empty tanks in Jade City.

(upbeat music)

- [Josh] I'm only a hop
skip and a jump away.

I can see the ridge that
our camp sits on now.

I'm happy to be done
with the day for sure.

Mentally I feel great
'cause I'm here and I know

that I don't have to go back
out for a few more days.

So I'm gonna do my best to hustle here

in camp and get her done.

Home sweet home.

- [Narrator] But before
Josh has time to settle

into camp he gets a call from his Mom.

Hey, how are you.
- Hi.

- [Narrator] It's bad news, Josh will have

to take the empty fuel tanks back to

Jade City to be refilled right away.

- [Josh] You know it's
just brutal because I

haven't even had a three day
break off this fucking trail.

I'm so frustrated like ah, man.

- We need this desperately
otherwise we're shut down.

- Yeah, I understand that but
why is it always (bleep) me?

- [Claudia] It'd be great
to give Joshua a break

from the road but
everybody has to you know,

go beyond what they
think that they can do.

- Okay well if they can
get it loaded tonight

then I'll take it out I guess.

- [Claudia] Okay, thank you, I love you.

- Bye.

I'm tired of it and I have
(bleep) all else to say like

I'm this trail tomorrow whether
I (bleep) like it or not.

- I gotta go try to find somebody.

- [Narrator] Claudia turns to her

half-brother Brian for help.

- [Claudia] Brian, can I talk to you?

Don't hurt yourself I need you.

(laughter)

So how do you like driving?

- [Brian] Driving?

Not really.

- [Claudia] Joshua
driven in today and I was

hoping you could fly in
tomorrow and then drive out

the next day with the
fuel takes empty and then

drive the fuel tanks in full.

- You sure know how to.

- [Claudia] You know this is my life.

If you can help.

- As long as I've got
time to get ready I guess.

- Yay!

The fuel that we have to haul into camp is

really crucial because it
runs all of our equipment

so I'm gonna fly him in tomorrow.

- [Narrator] Claudia heads
back to the Jade store.

- These ones I just need them to

give you the code on these ones.

(ringing telephone)

- Hello?

In the back, okay.

- [Narrator] There's a
problem at the restaurant.

- Oh God I hope it's, okay bye.

Someone told me that the water
smelled in the restaurant.

I need to have water so this
is really, really serious.

I think the water tanks there

started being an odor or sewage.

- [Narrator] Claudia grabs Blair,

a friend who's working
in the area to check out

the well supplying the
restaurant and bunk houses.

- [Claudia] I'm trying to figure out why

my well water smells like shit.

Did something die in here?

Oh, so it's not sulfur?

- [Narrator] Claudia and Blair search

for the source of the smell.

- [Claudia] And nothing
on this end, nothing.

- [Blair] 'Cause there's a sewer line that

kind of leaves the house
is coming out of that.

- So it is something from the top of the

sewer thing's busted, maybe, do you think?

Does it smell under here?

Oh, it does!

- [Narrator] They trace the stench to a

crawlspace near and
underground septic take.

- Oh, can you breathe?

I can't come in, oh!

(gagging)

- That is my worst nightmare.

Hoping everybody washed and

showered and (bleep) this morning.

To find out that the septic was leaking

into the well was devastating.

- [Narrator] Claudia hurries to warn

the work crew not to drink the water.

- [Claudia] My water's contaminated and

we're trying to look in the
well and see what's going on.

I think I should close
the restaurant down to

cook out of my kitchen
but how the (bleep) do I

cook for 50 people, three meals a day.

- [Narrator] If she can't
feed and house the work crew,

her investment and the half
million dollar contract

will quickly go down the toilet.

- Andy.

(intense music)

(ringing phone)

- The well is contaminated,
it can't be used again.

- [Narrator] In Jade City,
a leaking septic system has

forced Claudia to close her restaurant.

- Please, I just need a
couple of more days to get

the water truck here and we
can be up and going again.

- [Narrator] She pleads
with the power company

renting her bunk houses to stay.

- [Claudia] If they leave
potentially we're looking at

about a half a million dollar
loss for the community.

We have a lot of people
working on this project.

I don't know what you would want me to do.

I'll do every single
thing you'd want me to do

because I'm not trying
to hide from anything.

- [Narrator] The company
gives her 24 hours to bring

in clean water and get
the septic system working.

- [Claudia] Let me know, okay, thank you.

Okay, okay, bye.

(ringing phone)

- [Josh] It's me doing
my duty, paying my dues.

- [Narrator] Early morning at Wolverine,

Josh cooks breakfast for his uncle Brian

who's agreed to take over Josh's

12 hour fuel run to Jade City.

- [Josh] How is it uncle?

- Mmhmm.

- You're not talking
much so I assume decent.

(laughter)

- We need that truck
out and back in as quick

as possible and I'm
doing my absolute utmost

to make sure that he's
in a good mental state

to hit that trail and make it all way out.

(revving engine)

Good luck!
- You bet.

- [Josh] I'm extremely
happy that it's not me.

I'm so happy it's not me.

Let's find some Jade!

- [Narrator] Josh is eager to prove

he can do more than just
drive the rock truck.

- [Justin] Josh, you gotta get closer.

- [Josh] I'm trying to get experience.

I'm trying to work as hard as I can man.

- [Narrator] His older
brother Justin is showing

him how to move a boulder
with the excavator.

- [Josh] (bleep) me.

How did he even (bleep) get this thing?

- [Justin] You gotta pick
it up square, it's heavy.

- Okay.
- Hang on.

- [Josh] This is nice
working with my brother.

I Never got to do this ever.

- Open your thumb up, keep bringing it in.

Roll the bucket.

- [Josh] It's not that easy.

I know you think it is
but if it was that easy

why don't you get in here.

- [Justin] My brother's reaction to

stress it more like my mom's.

They are a little more emotionally

attached to everything that goes on.

- [Josh] I don't know man,
I know I'm frustrating you

but it's more frustrating
for me looking like an idiot.

I don't know how to pick this rock up.

- What a (bleep) donkey show.

Set her down, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

- A little stressful.

Perseverance I guess is
the name of game up here.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Back in Jade
city Claudia's desperate

to find a source of clean
water for the power crew.

- [Claudia] What is this?

That's not a water truck to me.

- [Narrator] She ordered a truckload

of water but it's not what she expects.

- That's not even gonna
last me a half an hour.

I need a tanker truck for
water, I need a big truck.

- [Narrator] Claudia has to
find a larger supply of fresh

water if she wants to keep
the work camp running.

- Do you have potable
water trucks for rent?

Well the one from Nelson is
1000 to 1500 dollars per day.

- We cannot do this for 1000 a day.

- Yes, it's a 1000 dollars
a day but it's more

than that, that we're making right now.

I've got a huge amount
of money invested in

remodeling that restaurant and all the

accommodations to hold
all these people, yup.

We're hoping to be up and
ready to go for Friday morning.

- [Narrator] Claudia
orders in the water truck.

Now Robin and Jojo need to
deal with the septic tank.

- [Robin] We've only got a
day to be up and operating

but we can't do that until
we get the sewer fixed.

(bang)

There's the edge of that lid you've hit.

We're gonna lift this lid
and take a look at crap.

Yup!

- As soon as he opened
it up you could see there

was just no place for
it to go other than out.

- [Robin] Okay, wait for the pump truck

to come in and pump her out.

- Okay.

- [Narrator] If he can fix this by tonight

the work crew won't have to vacate camp.

- And hopefully that'll solve
it for the rest of the season.

I hope, I hope, I hope.

(country music)

We have a septic truck here now just come

in from Watson to pump out the tank.

- [Narrator] Claudia and
Robin have to fix the septic

tank by end of day or risk
losing a half million dollar

contract to house a power crew.

- Oh, it's right full.
- Yup.

My hope is that's all that's wrong

and everything will be fine.

(running water)

- Oh (bleep).

- [Narrator] Out on the
road Claudia's half-brother

Brian is eight hours
into his run to go refill

the empty fuel tanks in Jade City.

- Well, I guess Josh was
a little bit burnt out

so I helped him out,
bring the rock truck in.

- [Narrator] But getting
across the brutal terrain

is a lot tougher than he expected.

Coming into Dease Lake Landing.

- [Narrator] An hour later Brian finally

reaches the end of the road.

- We made it.

- [Narrator] He agreed to
fill the Diesel tanks and

haul them back to Wolverine but one leg

of the trip is enough for him.

- [Brian] It's all ready
to be refueled and for

the next guy to take
it in when they go in.

I gave them my best.

- You want to talk?

- [Narrator] Now the hard
part, telling Claudia.

- [Brian] I gave all
I could give you know,

and I just have to go and
recharge my batteries.

- [Claudia] I'm put in a
really bad spot right now.

- Oh man, I'm sorry.

- Brian's not driving the
fuel truck back into camp.

You've (bleep) so disappointed me Brian.

You (bleep) abandoned me.

This is the disadvantage
of it being family because

it's emotional, because I
think he should have my back.

- [Narrator] There's no
one to drive fuel back to

Wolverine and without fuel
they won't be mining for long.

- All righty.

- [Narrator] On top of
everything the septic

problems are worse than they thought.

- [Claudia] Tell me exactly what happened.

- It looks like the exit
pipe which is supposed

to come down has fallen off.

- So that means you've
gotta get in the tank?

Is it empty?
- No.

- How deep is it?

- That deep at the other end.

- [Narrator] With the help
of his oldest son Sean,

Robin suits up for a dirty job.

- [Robin] Nobody else they couldn't stand

beside the tank let alone
try to get in the damn thing.

It's just (bleep).

Babies get it inside
their pants all the time.

It won't be crowded, there won't be a

lot of people hanging around.

- Silver lining dad, silver lining.

- Go in the septic tank
didn't matter to me

it's just another damn job.

Just a typical day in the neighborhood.

The smell, raised on a farm.

It smells like the restaurant.

There's the shit and there's the problem.

- [Narrator] If Robin can
repair the septic tank today

there's a chance they can keep the work

crew in town and save the big contract.

- [Robin] Okay, you can grab
this pipe I'm gonna pass out.

- [Sean] Okay.

- [Robin] Laying at the back
in the end was the elbow

that was supposed to be
attached to the end of the tank.

This (bleep) thing, it's
sort of glued on and

it ain't glued on no more.

- [Narrator] The exit pipe is too damaged

for Robin to fix on his own.

- [Robin] With the insurance
company and the health board

it's like nope you can't touch it.

Okay, you have to be licensed to deal with

any kind of repairs or stuff
on sewer fields, all right.

- [Claudia] The problem is way too big,

way too big for us to
handle and way too big

for us to handle on such short notice.

- [Narrator] There's no
way to fix the septic tank

in time to keep the work crew in town.

- (bleep).

- Sad day.

- [Narrator] A broken
septic tank has left Claudia

with no choice but to close
her restaurant and bunk house

for the season and forfeit a
half million dollar contract.

- [Claudia] Well it's awful
walking around in there

now that it's closed and
empty, it happened so fast.

It's the middle of August
and this shouldn't be

happening until the end of November.

It sure isn't the way
we thought it would end.

We'd have to really find a lot of

Jade to break even this year.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Out at Wolverine
the mood is different.

- That's good right there.

- [Narrator] Josh is getting
into the groove of mining.

- [Josh] This camp is
functioning flawlessly.

We're cutting rocks, mining Jade.

This is just me trying
to alleviate a little bit

of stress for my mom
and dad and keep getting

out of that red and into that black.

- [Devon] Nice, (bleep) nice.

- [Josh] That's comparable
to the best (bleep) yet.

- [Narrator] It's a small rock and it will

probably fetch no more than
a few thousands dollars but

it's a glimmer of hope in an
otherwise disastrous week.

- (bleep) that's awesome.

Knowing that everything in
Jade City's falling apart

right now it's a priority for us to have

good news to report no bad news.

- [Narrator] But the good
news will mean nothing

if the fuel tanks at Wolverine run dry.

- Oh god, make this go good.

(ringing phone)

I really need your help Josh,

it's been really three days of pure hell.

So I'm trying to pull it all together

but Brian bailed on me, he
won't take the fuel truck in.

- Okay.

- Fuel arrives, it's arriving any time now

so it needs to go out tomorrow morning.

I know that this is really
hard for you and I know

this has only given you
a little bit of a break.

- No, it's not really hard.

Just come pick me up it's
fine, it's not a challenge.

Just get me out to that truck and

I'll get it in tomorrow
morning no problem.

- For you to do that really,
really means a lot to me.

- [Josh] Yeah, no, it's okay and we've had

some good days out here
and we're finding Jade.

- Oh my God, I love you.

So maybe around supper
time if you can come out?

- Yeah.

- I love you and I'll see you soon.

- Okay bye.

I just got off the phone
with my mom and right as I

was starting to get into
the groove of camp life

she's got me back on the
trail but whatever I can

do to support my parents
and help my parents out,

I know they're going through absolute

hands down hell right now.

I may as well take some of the burden

on my shoulders and
jump in that rock truck.

- [Claudia] We're in a lot
of trouble but you know what,

that's what this family
does is we persevere.

We'll pull together,
we'll figure it out and

we'll start over again.

- [Narrator] The only
chance for the Bunce's

to recoup their loss is
to hit the mother load

of Jade before the season's done.

- [Claudia] We need to go
prove that we can do better.

We've got six weeks left,
we'll get through it.

- [Narrator] Next time on Jade Fever.

- She's heavy, heaviest one yet.

- [Justin] Go, stop.

- Yup, we're pretty much out.

- [Claudia] We need fuel
and camp desperately.

- That's my notifier, that stack of rocks.

Yes, I'm so ahead of schedule.

Oh (bleep).

I am currently about and hour out of camp

with a tire blown off the off.

(dramatic music)