聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Those that want to argue the Husky Oil pipeline spill happened because Premier Brad Wall was just too cozy with the oil companies are missing a couple of very important points.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 First, the pipeline that ruptured was installed in 1997 during the days of the former NDP administration and, frankly, before the existence of Wall鈥檚 Saskatchewan Party.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Much is being made by conspiratorial Wall critics that his cozy relationship with the oil sector (and supposed interest in oil board appointments post-politics) is somehow directly connected to what happened. This is nonsense.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Lest we forget that one of the first things the great Tommy Douglas did after his career in politics was to accept an appointment to the Husky Oil Board of directors (Yes, for readers too young to remember, the much-vaunted social democrat leader went to the supposedly hated oil companies).
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And while it is true that Wall eagerly attended Husky Energy鈥檚 opening of its Edam East heavy oil thermal project just a week before the election, a big part of a premier鈥檚 job is to promote such economic growth and activity.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It had nothing to do with the spill of 250,000 litres of crude oil into the North Saskatchewan River late last month.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Even if, according to Husky, the spill was triggered during the start-up of the pipeline connection of the company鈥檚 heavy oil connection in west central Saskatchewan, let us be clear that the project was repeatedly reviewed by the Ministry of Environment for three years before start-up.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In fact, the ministry conducted reviews in August 2013, July 2014, December 2014 and December 2015.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This takes us to the second, critical point: There is really no evidence that the Wall government has been specifically more lax than the former NDP government.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Environment Ministry contended that no specific environmental impact assessments were needed for these projects because they were not considered 鈥渄evelopments鈥� under the existing act and did not warrant an environmental impact review.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So notwithstanding the fact that Brad Wall is a far greater proponent of pipelines, no laws have changed to benefit the oil companies.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But this, by no means, suggests that no one in Saskatchewan saw potential problems with the existing pipeline safety rules or how they were being enforced.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In fact, the provincial auditor wrote back in 2012 that the then Energy and Resources Ministry 鈥渄id not have effective processes to ensure full compliance with The Pipelines Act, 1998 and The Pipelines Regulations, 2000. There are requirements under this legislation that are not being acted upon. Failure to regulate pipelines effectivelycould harm people or the environment.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Among the problems identified by the auditor was the lack of 鈥渄ocumented policies and procedures for its staff to use to monitor compliance with the law including the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) standards for pipelines.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Moreover, the auditor said 鈥渢he ministry did not have the required staff鈥� to ensure there was the required documentation to 鈥渟upport its assessment of an application against the Standard.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It all sounds rather bureaucratic. It is.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But for those who are in love with the notion of cutting all forms of red tape (and the Wall government is certainly in this category), there are consequences, especially in areas involving self-regulation.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So if self-regulation is to work - and it does seem to work in regulating everything from elevators to ultrasound - government still has to be vigilant about ensuring companies are at least adhering to CSA standards set out in its own pipeline law.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 According to the auditor five years ago, there was little documented evidence to support pipeline licensing decisions or 鈥渟ufficient assurances as to whether pipelines are built as planned鈥� or to ensure any 鈥渕aintenance after construction is carried out.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Rules don鈥檛 work if we really have no idea whether they are being followed.
