Saskatchewan pipeline oil leak reaction criticized
Group accuses officials of secrecy
An environmental group says it’s “astonishing” the Saskatchewan government took three days to announce a 200,000-litre pipeline oil leak had fouled farmland on the Ocean Man First Nation after it was reported last Friday.
But Energy and Resources Minister Dustin Duncan defended the province on Tuesday, noting the spill in southeast Saskatchewan wasn’t reported until late Friday night to the Ministry of Environment and he first learned about it on Saturday morning.
Keith Stewart, head of Greenpeace Canada’s climate and energy campaign, said in an email there’s too much secrecy surrounding oil spills in Saskatchewan.
“First the government waits three days to announce it, then the company will neither confirm nor deny that it’s their oil,” he said.
“More worrisome, however, is that once again pipeline spill detection technology and systems failed, leaving it up to community members to smell and see the oil before action is taken.”
Chief Connie Big Eagle said an Ocean Man band member who worked in the oil industry detected the smell of oil days before the leak was discovered about 130 kilometres southeast of Regina. The member eventually found the site of the spill contained in a small slough and reported it to officials last Friday.
Duncan told reporters an excavation of the spill site will start Wednesday and will allow investigators to confirm which of the pipelines is leaking and the pipeline has been shut down. He added about 170,000 litres have been recovered in a cleanup led by Calgary-based Tundra Energy Marketing Ltd.In a statement on its website dated Monday, Tundra says it immediately notified government officials and residents upon reporting of the leak near its pipeline and it began removing surface oil. Tundra is a subsidiary of grain and energy conglomerate James Richardson & Sons, Ltd., of Winnipeg. Neither company responded to requests for comment.