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News Release    

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CLEANUP IN CLOSING STAGES AT SITE OF PIPELINE LEAK NEAR SMITH

Calgary, Alberta (May 1, 2008) Staff from the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) are monitoring the closing stages of cleanup operations at the site of a crude oil effluent pipeline leak 40 km west of the community of Smith.

The leak was discovered on the morning of April 30 at a crude oil effluent pipeline licensed to Penn West near the Otauwau River.  An undetermined volume (between 60 and 125 barrels) leaked from the pipeline into the Otauwau River before the pipeline was shut in. The spill location is approximately 15 km upriver from the point where the Otauwau River meets the Lesser Slave River and 40 km from the Town of Smith, where the Lesser Slave River joins the Athabasca River. There were no injuries.

A containment and recovery boom was deployed on the Lesser Slave River and was in operation for several hours before its removal due to high waters and debris from spring runoff. An aerial search this morning revealed no visible oil on the Otauwau, Lesser Slave or Athabasca Rivers and no presence of oil on the banks. Staff from the ERCB, Alberta Environment and Penn West continue to fly over a 75 km area of the three rivers and look for any oil in the water and the banks, as well as searching for any environmental impacts. There have been no identified impacts to wildlife or the river banks. Any oil found remaining in the area will be cleaned up as quickly as possible.

An oil sheen is now evident on some portions of the Athabasca River north and down stream of Smith, which were detected by the aerial search late this afternoon. Deployment of booms across the Athabasca River is of negligible benefit due to the high waters and debris from runoff, plus the thinness of the sheen. Water samples from the Athabasca River at the Town of Athabasca have indicated no levels of hydrocarbons. The Town of Athabasca stopped drawing water from the Athabasca River when advised of the spill and is using water from its reservoir. It is expected that any remaining sheen will pass by the town tomorrow morning. Water sampling from the Athabasca River at the town is ongoing.

As is normal practice, the ERCB will conduct an investigation into the incident.

The pipeline failure rate in Alberta was at a record low 2.1 failures per 1000 km of pipeline in 2007, down more than 30% since 2000 (when there were 3.3 per 1000 km).  There are 392,000 km of ERCB-regulated pipeline in Alberta. In 2007, the ERCB’s 83 inspectors conducted 1,647 pipeline inspections.

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For more information, please contact:
Davis Sheremata, ERCB Communications, Cell: 403-605-4216

NR2008-09