Pipelines to be reviewed
Calgary company to check into safety measures
Calgary Herald
The Canadian Press
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Alberta's energy industry regulator has hired a Calgary company to review the province's pipeline network.
The Energy Resources Conservation Board said Monday that Group 10 Engineering will conduct the government-ordered review of pipeline safety, spill management and the security of pipelines that cross water.
The review was announced earlier in the summer following three pipeline-related oil spills in the province.
The board says the review should be completed by the end of November and Energy Minister Ken Hughes should have a report year's end.
Greenpeace Canada spokesman Mike Hudema says it's disappointing that none of the groups that asked for the review in the first place was consulted before Group 10 was hired.
"In launching this review, Minister Hughes acknowledged that it was only happening because of public pressure," Hudema said Monday in a news release.
"Refusing to listen to the public's legitimate concerns on pipeline safety won't make them or the over 600 pipeline incidents Alberta suffers from every year go away."
Members of the Alberta Surface Rights Group, which was among the groups pushing for the pipeline re-view, suggested last month that they were being shut out of the process. They also pointed out that the government planned to meet with the oil industry but not with them.
Greenpeace has also been critical about the energy board's involvement in the review.
The environmental groups says the board's mandate to regulate the development of Alberta's energy resources is too close to the government and is mistrusted by some people in rural areas.
The energy board said that after the report is presented to the minister, the board will review it and make its own written conclusions by the end of March.
NDP environment critic Rachel Notley said the province should have chosen the auditor general should have been asked to conduct the re-view.
"There's no point having another report that is vetted by the ERCB and the Ministry of Energy," said Notley. "If (Premier Alison) Red-ford wants Albertans to believe this review will have the same integrity as a review by the auditor general it will be done publicly and it will be released to Albertans at the same time the Minister sees it."
Via:(Calgary Herald)
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