China's Nexen pipeline ruptures, spilling five million litres of emulsion near Fort McMurray

Paige Parsons  July 17, 2015

David Olecko/NexenPart of Nexen's Long Lake oilsands facility in northern Alberta. Nexen is cleaning up a five-million litre spill

While Premier Rachel Notley meets with Canadian premiers on the other side of the country to discuss national issues, including energy and pipeline construction, an emergency response to a major pipeline spill in the Alberta oilsands is underway.

Nexen Energy said Thursday it is responding to a pipeline rupture at its Long Lake oilsands facility about 36 kilometres south of Fort McMurray.

“Our emergency response plan has been activated and our response personnel are on-site,” Nexen said in a written release. “The leak has been stabilized and the site is under control.”

Nexen reported an initial spill of 5,000 cubic metres, or five million litres, of emulsion before the pipeline and pad site were isolated and shut in, “effectively stopping the source of the release,” said the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), which also has staff at the scene assessing and beginning an investigation.

AER manager Peter Murchland couldn’t say where the spill ranks compared with other major spills in the province’s history, but he said it is certainly the largest this year.

“It’s one of the bigger ones certainly in the last couple of years,” Murchland said.

We take a pipeline spill like this one very seriously. We believe energy products need to move safely and efficiently. That’s why we are receiving regular updates from the AER on this situation and will continue to monitor it closely

Alberta Energy Minister Margaret McCuaig-Boyd has been made aware of the spill and is receiving regular updates, according to her spokesman Brad Hartle.

“We take a pipeline spill like this one very seriously. We believe energy products need to move safely and efficiently. That’s why we are receiving regular updates from the AER on this situation and will continue to monitor it closely,” Hartle said in a written statement.

The emulsion contained sand, produced water and bitumen.

Nexen has contained the spill in an area of about 40 metres by 400 metres and started cleanup, the AER said.

Nexen notified the regulator of the spill late Wednesday afternoon.

“They let us know within an appropriate time frame,” Murchland said.

The break occurred near its Long Lake steam-assisted gravity drainage operation in a feeder line between a well pad and a central processing facility, Murchland said.

It’s one of the bigger ones certainly in the last couple of years

The regulator said the spill is isolated to the pipeline right of way, which includes muskeg. The spill has not flowed into a water body or affected the public or wildlife, the AER said.

The AER has directed Nexen to implement a wildlife protection plan.

Nexen was acquired two years ago by the Chinese state-owned CNOCC.

Long Lake uses steam to heat up the oilsands bitumen deep underground, enabling it to flow to the surface.

The spill coincides with a meeting of Canadian premiers in St. John’s N.L., at which energy issues, including pipeline construction, are expected to be discussed.

On her way to the annual Council of the Federation, Notley stopped in Quebec City where she spoke about pipeline safety and potential for job creation one-on-one with Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard.

“I think it’s fair to say that he understands that energy continues to be a key driver of economic prosperity, not just in Alberta but across Canada,” said Notley, speaking by phone after her breakfast meeting Tuesday morning.

“We spoke about Energy East and some of the work that we need to do in order to encourage the success of that project. … I’m hopeful we will get good results, ultimately.”

Couillard has been critical of how the proposed project, which would carry crude oil from western provinces to refineries on the East Coast, would benefit Quebecers. Plans to build a terminal in Cacouna, Que., along the St. Lawrence River, were abandoned because of endangered beluga whales in the area.

Notley acknowledged his concerns and said the people of Quebec and Alberta share an interest in prioritizing the environment.

“ … we have an obligation to show that we’re taking real action on climate change concerns and overall environmental protection,” she said.

Nevertheless, Couillard was impressed with Notley’s stance during their meeting.

“I am convinced that we have found a new ally in Ms. Notley,” Couillard said in a written statement, describing the meeting as “a new era” in Quebec-Alberta relations.

Greenpeace Canada hopes news of the spill is a “stark reminder” to the premiers of the dangers associated with pipelines.

“This leak is also a good reminder that Alberta has a long way to go to address its pipeline problems and that communities have good reasons to fear having more built. New pipelines would also facilitate the expansion of the tar sands — Canada’s fastest growing source of carbon emissions — and accelerate the climate crisis even more,” Greenpeace spokesman Mike Hudema said in a written statement.

Precedent for the types of punishments handed out to companies responsible for major oil spills is evident in decisions from the last few years.

When nearly five million litres of oil were leaked into Alberta rivers and wetlands in two separate spills, Calgary-based Plains Midstream paid $1.3 million in fines in summer 2014 and in January was ordered to do an independent audit of all of its operations.

More recently, oil company Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. was fined $125,000 in March after 750 litres of crude oil seeped into a northern Alberta creek over three days in May 2010.