Leaks and Spills

Some stakeholders are concerned about surface and groundwater quality and potential impacts on human health and the environment from our operations. The protection of surface and groundwater quality is highly regulated by provincial and federal authorities. We work hard to prevent spills and leaks. Our pipeline integrity management programs assess the potential risk of pipeline failures and implement safeguards to minimize the possibility of corrosion failures and loss of fluid containment. We proactively replaced several pipelines where potential corrosion was a concern.

We use various monitoring and inspection techniques to measure the effectiveness of our corrosion mitigation programs and to ensure that all pipelines are safe for continued operation. We act on monitoring and inspection results, as needed, by modifying our corrosion mitigation program or removing the pipeline from service temporarily so repairs can be made.

All of these efforts, coupled with the sale of some older assets, led to a sharp decline in produced water spills from 2008 to 2009.

To monitor our robust prevention program, we conduct pipeline right-of-way inspections by both land and air. Comprehensive emergency plans are in place and practiced regularly and any opportunities to improve our performance are evaluated.

We record all spills and report spills of produced water and hydrocarbons in excess of one barrel. In almost all spills from 2007 to 2009, over 90 percent of the lost fluid was immediately recovered. Localized areas, where spills occurred, are remediated according to regulatory requirements and our own policies to mitigate any adverse affects to the environment.

Spills Greater than One Barrel