Canada’s government asks for pipeline safety revamp
Published by Elizabeth Corner,
Senior Editor
World Pipelines,
Canada's Conservative government has given the energy regulator about a year to deliver up-to-date guidelines for pipeline companies to improve safety and protect the environment.
Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford instructed the National Energy Board to study the issue and report its findings with new safety guidelines by next year.
The instructions coincide with several major crude oil pipeline expansion projects proposed in Canada by companies such as Kinder Morgan, Enbridge and TransCanada Corp.
"I firmly believe that technology can and will ensure safer pipelines and protection of the environment," Rickford wrote in a letter, addressed to the board's Chairman, Peter Watson. "I also believe that guidance from the NEB ... will contribute towards achieving these important goals."
Investigation into TransCanada safety whistleblowers
In related news, senior engineers at Canada’s energy regulator are under investigation by their professional association over their probe of alleged safety code violations at TransCanada Corp, Canada’s second largest pipeline operator.
The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) has confirmed it is investigating some of its members who work at the National Energy Board (NEB).
The engineers had been investigating allegations of natural gas pipeline safety-code violations at TransCanada, brought to light by a whistleblower.
The probes coincide with the parliamentary debate on new pipeline safety legislation, in which the official opposition and environmental groups have criticized the regulator, saying it is too close to the industry it oversees.
Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner
Sources: Reuters, The Globe and Mail
Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/30032015/canadas-government-asks-for-pipeline-safety-revamp/
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