By paNOW staff.

Yearend Coverage: Husky Energy oil spills taints North Saskatchewan River

Dec 31, 2016 | 11:38 AM

In our increasingly green energy focused society, the threat of oil spills from the many pipelines criss-crossing the globe was a focus in the news this year.

Prince Albert and the Battlefords found themselves in the spotlight after more than 200,000 litres of oil flooded the North Saskatchewan River on Wednesday, July 20, forcing residents to find alternative water sources.

Panic ensued as the booms set up at the site of spill failed and oil worked its way down to Prince Albert’s water intake. It took four days for the oil to reach the city, in which time locals frantically filled jugs and personal water reservoirs.

Everyone questioned how an oil spill like this could have happened, and there were serious concerns about when exactly the spill occurred.

But first, staff at city hall in Prince Albert had to ensure the city was taken care of.

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With only two days worth of supply in the water reservoir, finding an alternative was crucial. Even after the city found out water from storm retention ponds could be used. This boosted the available water to seven days’ supply, but a long-term solution was desperately needed so the town didn’t run dry.

The same day water intake was closed, the city started work on a 30 km pipeline from the South Saskatchewan River to the water treatment plant along Highway 302.

What was only supposed to take a few days extended to nearly a week. To counter the delays, a second, smaller pipeline was designed. Thankfully a substantial storm rolled through the area, refilling the storm water retention pond. 

Eventually, untainted water flowed through Prince Albert pipes and the time came to question how this spill had happened.

Questions swirled about when the leak was first noticed.

The first incident report from Husky showed a pipeline release was discovered at 8 p.m. on July 20. When reporters questioned Husky Energy vice-president Al Pate about the time, he said Husky first became aware of the leak Thursday morning, 14 hours later.

Their report was later amended to show they detected “pressure anomalies” at 8 p.m. but didn’t detect a leak at the time.

Reporters continued to pepper Husky Energy with questions, such as when was the last time the company ran a safety check on that section of pipeline and how it would reimburse businesses which had to close doors due to water restrictions.

The company’s final report of the spill said it wasn’t readily responsible because the ground buckled in a “sudden, one-time event” due to ground movement.

Husky Energy said when the pipeline was installed in 1997, a third-party assessment concluded the area wasn’t geo-technically active and was safe to run pipes through.

Not everyone agreed Husky was completely off the hook.

Dr. Grant Ferguson, associate professor with the department of civil, geological and environmental engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, said riverbank slopes are almost never stable and 1997 analytic models may not be viable today.

“We accept full responsibility for the event and the cleanup and we will make things right,” vice-president Pate said.

The sentiment varied depending on who dealt with the company.

Band members of the James Smith Cree Nation (JSCN), whose treaty territory includes a portion of the Saskatchewan River reported finding oil in its lands and water.

When walking the riverbank, Chief Wally Burns said he saw foam which had an eerie resemblance to the foam which floated through the gateway city. The river was incredibly quiet and devoid of life.

The big question which Husky Energy stalled over was, whose oil was in the river?

Various sources involved with negotiations on behalf of the Cree Nation told our newsroom the energy company did not readily accept the spill reached JSCN.

“We don’t know whose oil that is, they’re saying,” Burns said. “Still, there was only one oil leak in the North Saskatchewan River.”

After a month and a half of oil on the river banks and floating through their river, a pair of sniffer dogs were deployed along with a shoreline clean up team.

“When the dogs came in, the dogs picked up that scent of oil that was from (the) Maidstone area,” Burns said.

JSCN claimed Husky withheld information from them and ignored their requests to return the river and its banks to its original conditions.

After reaching out numerous times to Husky Energy for comment, Husky spokesperson Mel Duvall said Husky was working with First Nations and downstream communities and “have been openly sharing the results of the testing program.” 

Oil specialist Dr. Ed Owens was brought in by Husky Energy to assist with the cleanup. He said “oil basically breaks down naturally,” and they’ll remove as much oil as possible before winter and wait until spring to assess the situation.

Many leaders and community members in James Smith are questioning if they will ever be able to fish from the river again in their lifetime.

Burns and his fellow councillors say they’ve had enough of negotiations and have since signed into the Treaty Alliance network, joining over 100 sovereign nations from around North America in a stand against pipelines.

While this move is applaud-able by environmentalists, the Treaty Alliance has yet to be truly tested. With the approval of the Line 3, and Trans-Mountain pipelines, it is unclear what kind of action Treaty Alliance membership will take to prevent unsustainable pipeline development.