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Crews Cleaning Up 15,000 Barrels of Crude Oil
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©Provost News Photo.
| Crews are working around the clock cleaning up an estimated 15,700 barrels of heavy crude oil that leaked from a pipeline under a frozen slough near Enbridge Pipeline’s Hardisty terminal just inside the west end of the M.D. of Provost. A rupture of the pipeline was first discovered at 12:45 a.m. January 17 by Enbridge’s sensing equipment at a control centre in Edmonton. The pipeline was immediately shutdown and a section of the line south of the Hardisty station was isolated. Air and ground patrols in the area subsequently discovered the leak. The spill was contained to the slough — an area of approximately seven acres. No cause for the rupture has yet been discovered. General manager of operations for Enbridge’s western region, Steve Irving told The News in an interview that there were no injuries. He said that emergency response crews were dispatched to the site the same day as the discovery to begin clean-up operations. Crews from Hardisty, Edmonton and Kerrobert were sent and overnight Enbridge began recovering the oil and putting in place plans to repair the pipeline. Officials from the National Energy Board and the Transportation Safety Board were notified and are on the scene. Enbridge reports that initial clean up is being conducted in compliance with standard emergency procedures which include government regulations and Enbridge's “stringent standards for safety and the environment”. Another line was tied into the damaged pipeline and oil was flowing Saturday night.Up to 100 people were at first working at the site sharing two shifts but by Sunday approximately 75 people were working around the clock on shifts. Irving said that the environmental damage is expected to be “minimal” on the long term.
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