Canada raises liability for offshore oil spills to $1-billion
Shawn McCarthy, The Globe and Mail, Jun. 18 2013
OTTAWA — The federal government will raise the bar for oil companies operating off the East Coast and in the Arctic, increasing the limit on their liability for environmental and other damage from a blowout or oil spill to $1-billion.
Private hydro plants fall short on monitoring
Larry Pynn, Vancouver Sun, June 17, 2013
Only seven of B.C's 22 projects documented everything required, says federal fisheries report
B.C. says ‘No’ to Northern Gateway on concerns over oil spills
Jeffrey Jones, Globe and Mail, May 31 2013
CALGARY — British Columbia has formally rejected Enbridge Inc.’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to the West Coast from Alberta, saying the company has failed to adequately explain how to deal with a major heavy oil spill on land or in coastal waters.
Extracting info: Why’s it so hard to get the goods on oil spills?
Leslie Young, Global News, May 22 2013
CALGARY – It can be tough to get a good sense of how safe Alberta’s oil industry is when you can’t access the information you need.
B.C. power producers have high number of compliance issues
Canadian Press, Globe and Mail, May 2 2013
Internal government documents show a startling number of compliance issues with British Columbia’s independent power producers and say the province does not have the staff to monitor the projects.
Harper government amends list of industrial projects requiring environmental reviews
Mike De Souza, Postmedia News, April 28, 2013
OTTAWA — Building a diamond mine, expanding an oilsands mine, offshore exploration or an interprovincial bridge could soon require a federal environmental review under proposed additions and subtractions to the Harper government’s new environmental rules.But provincially regulated pipelines, facilities used to process the heavy oil from the oilsands, pulp and paper mills as well as chemical explosive plants are among those being deleted from a list of projects requiring federal environmental investigations prior to approval.
Stephen Harper’s “omnibus” strategy to overhaul green laws was proposed by oil industry, says records
Mike DeSouza, O.Canada.com, April 10 2013
OTTAWA – Lobbyists from Canada’s oil and gas industry recommended the Harper government’s 2012 strategy to put multiple changes to a series of environmental protection laws into a single piece of legislation, says a newly-released internal federal document.
NEB hearings application form called undemocratic
Max Paris, CBC News, Apr 8, 2013
Enbridge will be 1st test of new rules for who qualifies to comment on projects
The National Energy Board is changing its rules for participation in public hearings, starting with its hearings in August into the reversal of a pipeline that runs through Ontario to Montreal.
Harper Gov't Changes to NEB Make First Nations' Concerns 'Irrelevant': Lawyer
By Geoff Dembicki, TheTyee.ca, March 25, 2013
Confusion reigns over review of New Prosperity
Dene Moore, The Canadian Press, March 5, 2013
A federal review panel weighing the future of a stalled gold and copper mine in the B.C. Interior is wondering just what, exactly, the panel is supposed to be assessing after federal changes to the environmental assessment process.
Run-of-river sector in regulatory disarray, documents suggest
Larry Pynn, Vancouver Sun, January 23, 2013
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations lists 749 non-compliance incidents from 16 hydro projects in 2010
It's Time to Rewrite BC's Environmental Laws
News Release, Environmental Law Centre, Dec 20, 2012
Today the ELC announced the release of Maintaining SuperNatural BC for Our Children: Selected Law Reform Proposals. This book is a series of 35 short, readable articles – punctuated by photos and cartoons - that describe key environmental law reforms the next provincial government should consider.
Northern Gateway pipeline review panel demands consideration of 'Keystone Kops' report on Enbridge
Peter O'Neil, Calgary Herald, August 14, 2012
OTTAWA --- The federal review panel assessing the controversial Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline to B.C. is now demanding that Enbridge table a report from a U.S. regulator who concluded that the company acted like the Keystone Kops in a 2010 Michigan spill and had a corporate "culture of deviance."
Oil Sands and the Keystone XL Pipeline: Background and Selected Environmental Issues
Jonathan L. Ramseur, Coordinator, Congressional Research Service, July 16 2012
Summary
If constructed, the Keystone XL pipeline would transport crude oil (e.g., synthetic crude oil or diluted bitumen) derived from oil sands in Alberta, Canada to destinations in the United States. Because the pipeline crosses an international border, it requires a Presidential Permit that is issued by the Department of State (DOS). The permit decision rests on a “national interest” determination, a term not defined in the authorizing Executive Orders. DOS states that it has “significant discretion” in the factors it examines in this determination. Key events related to the Presidential Permit include:
Private Profit, Public Risk
J. Mijin Cha, Huffington Post, August 2, 2012
Within two years, the Enbridge tar sands pipeline has managed to release more than 850,000 gallons of oil in two different spills. The first spill in Southwestern Michigan released over 800,000 gallons of oil and cost more than $800 million to clean up. The second spill released 50,000 gallons in Adams County, Wisc., smaller than the first spill but still requiring two homes to evacuate. These spills cause great economic and environmental harm to affected communities, but barely create an inconvenience for Enbridge, which posted quarterly earnings over $300 million in the last quarter.
B.C. points to Norway for pipeline safety
By Vivian Luk, The Canadian Press, July 26 2012
VANCOUVER - Calgary-based Enbridge (TSX:ENB) has offered improvements to its Northern Gateway pipeline to boost safety beyond "state-of-the-art," but British Columbia Premier Christy Clark is looking at a standard much further afield.
Independent third party to scrutinize Alberta’s pipeline safety protocols
By Karen Kleiss, Edmonton Journal, July 20, 2012
EDMONTON - Government and industry bowed to public pressure Friday, announcing a review of Alberta’s pipeline safety rules and $500 million in new spill-prevention features for the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.
'Culture of Deviance' at Enbridge, Finds US Transport Safety Board
By Andrew Nikiforuk, TheTyee.ca, July 10 2012
'Corrosion' of safety culture 'throughout the Enbridge organization' led to Kalamazoo disaster.
Feds: Enbridge detected defect years before massive oil spill
Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press, July 10 2012
The Enbridge case -- Fines, regulations, studies must add up to oil spill prevention
Editorial, Detroit Free Press, July 6 2012
A record fine.
That's a bit of comfort as Michigan deals with the aftereffects of the huge 2010 oil spill in the Kalamazoo River. At least the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which announced the fine against pipeline owner Enbridge Energy this week, seems to understand the magnitude of the event.
Calls for tighter pipeline regulations sought after Enbridge issued $3.7M fine
By Amanda Stephenson, Calgary Herald, July 4, 2012
Calgary - Industry watchers and environmental groups are calling for tighter pipeline monitoring regulations, one day after a $3.7 million civil fine was issued against Enbridge Inc. for a 2010 Michigan oil spill.
Groups launch campaign calling for independent review of pipeline safety
By Karen Kleiss, Edmonton Journal, June 26, 2012
Government says oversight already exists
A coalition of 17 landowner and environmental groups launched an advertising campaign Monday to demand an independent review of pipeline safety in Alberta.
Tories unveil revised fisheries law, deny it's a move to boost pipelines
By Peter O'Neil, Vancouver Sun, Postmedia News, April 27, 2012
Critics say protection for fish habitat 'eliminated' in bill to appease businesses
Canada's coal industry pressured feds to weaken regulations, records say
By Mike de Souza, Postmedia News, Vancouver Sun, April 21, 2012
OTTAWA - Environment Canada weakened a draft version of regulations to crack down on pollution from coal-fired power plants following pressure from the industry, newly-released federal records have revealed.
Canada's broken pipeline safety system
Joyce Nelson, Rabble.ca, April 20 2012
On January 9, Canada's Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver claimed that "environmental and other radical groups," including "jet-setting celebrities" funded by foreign money, "threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological ends. They seek to exploit any loophole they can find, stacking public hearings with bodies to ensure that delays kill good projects. They use funding from foreign special interest groups to undermine Canada's national economic interest."
