Oil spill near NWT border nets charges
Apache Canada Inc. faces maximum penalty of $3.1 million following pipeline leak outside Zama City, Alta
Elaine Anselmi
Northern News Services
Monday, October 26, 2015
ZAMA CITY, ALTA
An energy company currently undergoing remediation efforts outside Fort Liard could be on the hook for more than $3 million in charges following a 2013 pipeline spill just south of the territorial border.
The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) handed down seven charges alleging Apache Canada Inc. was in contravention of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, the Public Lands Act and the Pipeline Act, said AER spokesperson Ryan Bartlett.
The spill occurred 33 km northwest of Zama City, which is about 100 km from the NWT border, leaking 1,800 cubic metres of saline water - fluid containing minerals and salts extracted through oil and gas drilling. The area of impact is estimated at 3.8 hectares or just under half of a square-kilometre.
"If the maximum penalty for each of the seven counts is issued, the total would be $3.1 million," Bartlett said.
The charges include: four counts of releasing a potentially harmful substance into the environment, failing to report the release and take proper remediation efforts after the spill; one count of causing damage to public land; and two counts of failure to provide adequate support to bear the weight of the above-ground pipelines.
Apache spokesperson Paul Wyke said the company would not comment on legal matters before the court but said Apache takes environmental responsibility seriously - pipeline integrity being an important aspect of that.
"Apache has been working closely with the AER to meet its obligations and ensure the integrity of Apache-operated pipelines," Wyke stated in an e-mail response.
First appearance in the case is set for Dec. 7 in High Level Provincial Court, though an additional AER investigation into Apache operations is underway regarding a January 2014 spill, 40 km northwest of Whitecourt, Alta.
In the NWT, Apache currently holds a land-use permit through the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board for its Pointed Mountain remediation project, about 22 km northwest of Fort Liard.
The company took the former gas field over from BP Canada Energy Company in 2010, continuing remediation efforts that began in 2001.
There have been long-standing concerns that BP and Amaco - which developed the project before being taken over by BP - had not properly cleaned up the site. In close proximity to Fishermen Lake, where people have cabins and regularly fish, many residents have raised concerns that water is leeching from the site into the lake.
Wyke told News/North in July 2014 that the company's goal is to return the site to the same condition it was in before industrial activity began.
According to the land and water board registry, a water licence was issued to Apache in August 2014 for testing on its C-1 well at Pointed Mountain in order to determine the well's potential for future waste-water disposal.
That licence expired on Aug. 27.
"While there is no major work planned at Pointed Mountain for the balance of this year, we are currently in the planning stages for projects in 2016 and Pointed Mountain is part of those planning discussions," Wyke said.
He did not respond to questions on the completion the well testing or what sort of activities were planned for the site by press time.
The Pointed Mountain remediation project is Apache's only current undertaking in the territory, and Wyke confirmed the timeline to complete the project falls within the land-use permit's 2019 expiration date.
Apache's safety woes are not limited to the seven charges in Alberta. In July, the company incurred a $16,500 administrative penalty for pipeline infractions - the maximum penalty the AER hands down for charges not brought forward to the court system.
"We had conducted an investigation into the company's pipeline operations in Alberta between June 2013 and October 2014," said Bartlett.
"We identified numerous incidents of non-compliance."
As well as the fine, Apache was given four orders, which Bartlett said basically instruct the company to clean up and improve their operations.
The orders included completing a third-party audit of its pipeline integrity management system and submitting a plan to prevent future spills from high-risk pipelines to the AER.
Wyke said the audit was commissioned in 2014, with recommendations being implemented throughout Apache's projects and that a robust management system was in place in Canada.
