Public Safety

In everything we do, at all stages of our operations, there is nothing more important than safety. Safety is our first corporate value and a key measure of our performance. The most common public safety concerns expressed to us are those related to sour gas wells and facilities near their communities. We take these concerns very seriously and work to the highest standards to ensure we minimize risk to the public.

We have many measures in place to protect the public in the event of an emergency. These measures were put to the test in 2008, when we managed a well-fire incident near Chetwynd, British Columbia. No injuries resulted from this incident and the lessons we learned improved our communication, training and practices around well control.

Emergency Preparedness and Response

Our emergency response plans are developed to comply with provincial regulatory guidelines. We ensure these plans are updated regularly. We have a robust emergency response infrastructure. We use the global Incident Command System Framework, the standard for many emergency response organizations and agencies in Canada, to provide a consistent and appropriate response to all emergencies.

Staff at our operating facilities maintain regular contact with communities and first responder organizations, such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Emergency Medical Services, to keep them up-to-date and aligned with our emergency plans.

Deploying Global Expertise

If additional planning or response capabilities are needed to manage an incident, we call on ConocoPhillips Incident Management Assist Teams (IMAT). ConocoPhillips has three global IMAT teams, including one stationed in Houston, Texas. All assist teams can deploy to an incident location within eight to 12 hours. Team members are highly trained with experience in fire and hazardous materials response, as well as the use of incident command systems.

Drills and Exercises

We perform regular emergency response exercises to test and improve our plans and procedures.

• We performed 29 tabletop emergency response exercises in 2008 and 31 in 2009. In these exercises, teams are provided with an emergency scenario and are required to work through all the steps of how the response would be carried out if it were an emergency situation. These exercises are an important test of our ability to respond to different situations. In many cases, local authorities and regulators also participate in these drills.
• We performed six major exercises or full-scale deployments in 2008 and five in 2009. Major exercises provide a realistic simulation of an emergency response through the participation of external agencies and deployment of the resources necessary to thoroughly test our emergency response plans. All major deployment drills are escalated to level three scenarios.

In total, we trained 706 ConocoPhillips Canada responders in 2008 and 2009. We believe the frequency, scale and complexity of our emergency response exercises and drills exceeds regulatory standards.

Emergency Response Drill in Gregg Lake

Stakeholders, including regulators, tell us we have well-trained responders. A recent example of this is an October 2009 Alberta Energy Resources and Conservation Board regulated exercise performed in the Gregg Lake area of Alberta.

Gregg Lake community members are concerned about their proximity to sour gas sites. The scenario for this drill was developed in consultation with representatives from the Gregg Lake Property Owners Group. One representative of this group observed the full-scale exercise from the command post and a second representative participated. Overall the group was satisfied with our level of emergency planning and preparedness for this exercise. Some community members reported that after seeing our capabilities, they are more comfortable with our presence in their community.