Release pipeline review, say critics
Report finished in December
CALGARY — Environmentalists and opposition politicians intensified calls over the weekend for the Alberta government to release the results of an independent review on pipeline safety.
The report, which was commissioned by the government in July 2012 after three high-profile pipeline leaks triggered public concern, was completed in December but has not yet been made public.
The provincial NDP have accused the government of sitting on the report pending the Obama administration’s decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.
“The minister is clearly keeping it secret,” said NDP environment critic Rachel Notley, adding the most recent incident — an announcement by Plains Midstream Canada on Saturday that an estimated 950 barrels of natural gas liquids and byproducts had spilled from its Kemp pipeline northwest of Manning — is just one more example of the need to have open debate about pipeline safety in Alberta.
Earlier this month, an Apache Canada spill near Zama City in northern Alberta resulted in 9.5 million litres of salt and heavymetal-laced waste water leaking onto the landscape.
“Every time we see another pipeline breach, whatever the nature of it, it just reinforces the fact that the government needs to take action on this and they need to do it in a way that is accountable to Albertans. Releasing this report is a very small first step,” Notley said.
Wildrose energy critic Jason Hale said the pipeline safety report — which was conducted by a Calgary engineering firm and was intended to examine issues such as public safety, response to incidents, and integrity management — has been in the government’s hands for months and it’s time the contents were made public.
“The energy companies need to know, environmentalists need to know, the Alberta public needs to know what’s going on with our pipelines,” Hale said. “The sooner we can get that report out, the sooner we can start working toward solutions that will help with these unfortunate incidents we’ve seen over the last few weeks.”
Energy Minister Ken Hughes rejected the idea that he’s suppressing the report, saying in an interview it will be released “fairly soon.”
“It’s fairly technical, so our officials are still working their way through it,” he said.
Premier Alison Redford told Postmedia News the government has a history of taking the time to fully review reports before releasing them to the public so it can be ready to implement any recommendations that may arise from them.
“When we’ve done this kind of work with reports, we haven’t done them simply for the sake of doing them as a political stunt,” she said. “We’ve taken meaningful steps with respect to recommendations and we’ll continue to do that.”
But Nathan Lemphers, senior policy analyst with environmental think-tank the Pembina Institute, said Canada’s federal energy regulator strengthened its regulations on pipelines earlier this year. He said the longer Alberta delays releasing the report, the more it makes it look like the province is uninterested in doing the same.
“Alberta seems to be holding the course, without any indication that they’re going to be improving things,” he said.
Greenpeace Canada climate campaigner Keith Stewart said he doesn’t expect the report will contain any “bombshells,” but said the government may be wary of the public consultation process that is expected to follow its release.
“I don’t think they want to be having a public conversation about pipeline safety while Keystone and Gateway are still so much in the news,” Stewart said.
On Sunday, Plains Midstream said early indications are construction equipment likely caused the rupture near Manning. An investigation into the spill is ongoing and the affected section of pipeline is being removed to be analyzed by a third-party firm. More than 60 workers have been working around the clock at the spill site to remove fluids. So far, it appears no wildlife was affected.
Apache Canada officials are scheduled to meet with leaders from the Dene Tha’ First Nation on Monday. The Dene — who hunt and trap on the land affected by the Zama City process water spill — say no one told them a leak had occurred until 11 days after the spill was discovered. That shouldn’t have happened, said the energy minister.
“I would prefer to see a more prompt response from industry in disclosing this to the regulator and to addressing any public concerns as well,” Hughes said.
Officials with the company said they didn’t notify the public because it occurred in a remote area and it took time to determine the scope of the mishap.