Province gives Husky 30-day extension
The provincial government took Husky Energy Inc. at its word when the Calgary-based company said it needed more time to explain what caused one of its pipelines to fail east of Maidstone this summer.
Husky was granted a 30-day extension after it told the government late Wednesday that two technical reports — one metallurgic, one geotechnical — being prepared by third-party engineering firms were not finished.
“Our understanding is simply that the reports are not completed,” Doug MacKnight, assistant deputy minister of the Ministry of the Economy’s petroleum and natural gas division, told reporters on a conference call Friday.
MacKnight said he didn’t know which engineering firms Husky contracted to prepare the reports, which will form part of its explanation of what caused about 225,000 litres of heavy crude to spill near and into the North Saskatchewan River on July 20.
Husky spokesman Mel Duvall refused to identify the companies, but said in an email Friday afternoon that the “original scope of work” was finished, and that additional questions and analyses led to the delay.
“We have asked for the extension to allow the reports from the specialists involved in the investigation to be completed,” Duvall said in the email. “We believe it is important that the report be thorough and comprehensive in its findings.”
Husky is required under provincial law to submit a “detailed incident report” within 90 days of its initial report, which was filed on July 26 and later amended to say the spill was detected on July 21 rather than July 20.
Duvall said earlier this week that the company expected to file its final report “around Oct. 21.” A spokesman for the Ministry of the Economy, which regulates the province’s pipelines, said it would contain information about the cause and timeline of the spill.
The single-page document Husky submitted Friday states about 225,000 litres of crude escaped from a 406.4 millimetre pipeline, and that the land area of the spill was 41,500 square metres. It is silent on what caused the incident.
“It’s not common (for a company to request an extension) but then again this is an uncommon incident,” MacKnight said, adding that while Husky could ask for another extension, the government doesn’t expect that to happen.
The decision to grant an extension is “frustrating” and suggests problems with transparency and accountability, according to the Opposition NDP’s environment critic.
The government’s “resultsbased” approach to pipeline regulation effectively allows Husky and other energy and pipeline companies to police themselves, which is “problematic,” said NDP MLA Cathy Sproule.
“If the industry are the ones who get to choose who does their report card, it leaves a lot of room for industry to maybe (take) shortcuts or maybe deciding on what information is released and not released,” she said.
Husky and the provincial government have come under intense pressure and scrutiny from the NDP, scientists, environmental activists and First Nations in the nine weeks since the spill.