CALGARY, June 27, 2013 /CNW/ - The National Energy Board (NEB or Board) is responding to the discovery of crude oil on the TransMountain Pipeline north of Hope, BC owned and operated by Kinder Morgan Canada. While conducting scheduled maintenance on the line, KM reported that they had found contaminated soil. The size of the release has yet to be determined by the NEB. There is no immediate safety concern for local residents and precautions are being taken to ensure continued public safety.
The NEB received an incident report late yesterday afternoon. The release is located on crown land along the pipeline right-of-way. The pipeline has been shut down to prevent additional oil from being released into the environment.
The NEB's Emergency Response Team has been deployed and will be onsite to monitor and assess the company's immediate response, investigation and clean up. Representatives from the affected company are also onsite along with local first responders.
An NEB investigation stemming from the discovery of oil on the TransMountain Pipeline reported on 12 June 2013 is already underway. Through its investigation of this most recent incident, the NEB will seek to determine whether they are isolated or similar in nature.
In an emergency, the Board works with federal, provincial and territorial partners to coordinate the regulatory response. The NEB's priority in any emergency is to make sure that people are safe and the environment is protected.
The National Energy Board holds regulated companies fully responsible and accountable for responding in a manner that protects the public, property and the environment. This includes clean-up and site remediation. The Board's long-term goal with any incident is the full restoration and re-vegetation of the site including any potential effects on sub-surface groundwater. We do not relax our expectations of a company, or our response, regardless of the size of the incident.
This news release is available on the NEB's Internet site at www.neb-one.gc.ca under What's New!
SOURCE: Government of Canada
Rebecca Taylor
Communications Advisor
Telephone: 403-389-6717
E-mail: [email protected]
TTY (teletype): 1-800-632-1663
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