Hughes rejects charges that he’s delaying report
EDMONTON — Energy Minister Ken Hughes rejects accusations from the NDP that he is withholding release of an internal report on pipeline safety in Alberta pending the U.S. administration’s decision on the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Hughes said the review will be released “in the not too distant future” and its disclosure isn’t linked to U.S. President Barack Obama’s pending decision on whether to approve the controversial pipeline that will carry Alberta bitumen to the Gulf Coast.
“We’re looking to ensure that we perform to the highest possible level and we’ll have it out — unconnected to Keystone,” he said in an interview Tuesday.
Later, in the legislature, he rejected NDP MLA Rachel Notley’s “grassy knoll conspiracy theories” and pledged to ensure Alberta has the best performing pipelines in the world.
Alberta Energy commissioned the study after three major pipeline leaks in the province last summer, including a Plains Midstream Canada pipeline rupture that leaked 475,000 litres of oil into the Red Deer River near Sundre.
Hughes said in the interview that his department is “working to understand the technical nature” of the report.
“Industry is also reviewing their own practises as well so there is a lot of work going on at the same time,” he said. “The pipeline report is one step in a longer process.”
Alberta Energy directed the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) to examine the initial review conducted by an engineering firm, and that was completed last month.
Notley accused Hughes of sitting on the report to prevent safety from becoming a larger issue in the ongoing pipeline debate.
“At the end of the day what we really need is for the public to review the review,” she said.
“We’re the ones to whom Ken Hughes owes an obligation — not the shareholders of multinational corporations.”
Notley noted auditors general of Canada and Saskatchewan have expressed concerns about pipeline safety.