By Bryan Eneas

Indigenous communities reach out to Ocean Man First Nation after pipeline leak

Jan 26, 2017 | 11:00 AM

The second oil spill in under one year has affected another Indigenous community in Saskatchewan; this time in the Ocean Man First Nation.

The spill was detected on Jan. 20 by a resident from the community. Roughly 200,000 litres of crude leaked into a slough. Since the discovery, roughly 174,000 litres was cleaned up by a company specializing in environmental clean-up.

Chief Connie Big Eagle said some Indigenous communities have reached out to Ocean Man.

“A couple of them have reached out to me, giving advice,” Big Eagle said. “It’s appreciated, and we’ll move forward with everything they tell us in mind.”

Big Eagle said she’s been told to hire monitors, and to document everything to keep on top of the situation.

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James Smith Cree Nation Chief Wally Burns confirmed he was waiting on a phone call from Ocean Man on Jan. 25.

The line has since been excavated to investigate the cause of the spill. Big Eagle said independent company Acuren was hired by pipeline regulators to look into the integrity of the pipe.

The pipeline in question is owned by Tundra Energy 

“At this point our main concern was the clean-up. It’s not complete yet but it’s almost near it,” Big Eagle said. “Now we’re just moving forward with the next steps as to what caused it and from there we’ll deal with that as the next steps.”

Big Eagle said everyone responsible for the clean-up efforts is doing everything they are supposed to be doing as regulated.

She added the community has been “managing” the situation. She said the hardest part to deal with is the fact the spill happened and has since affected the environment.

National Energy Board not involved

Representatives from the National Energy Board said the pipeline is under provincial jurisdiction.

The board has reached out to the Saskatchewan government to offer assistance.

“While the offer was appreciated, the province does not believe it requires our help at this time,” the NEB said in an email to paNOW.

Bryan Eneas is paNow’s Indigenous and northern reporter. He can be reached by email at: Bryan.Eneas@jpbg.ca or tweet him: @BryanEneas