It was all-hands on deck Thursday morning, as Kinder Morgan staff and marine crews simulated an oil spill cleanup under the watchful eyes of the National Energy Board.
The scene was part of an NEB-mandated drill the company conducts every three years, but for the first time, the board will make the evaluation results public.
“We just believe we need to be more transparent when we go forward,” NEB chair Peter Watson told the NOW. “People need to see what we do in our life cycle of regulatory oversight, that was one of the things I heard over and over again when I travelled across the country last year.”
Watson couldn’t speak to Kinder Morgan’s track record from past drills, however, as he didn’t have that information on hand. (Check back for updates.)
“While we evaluate them, and we will also be clear about the areas they’ve done well on and the areas we think they need to improve upon, the purpose is really for them to improve, and for them to bring the learnings back into their emergency management program,” Watson said.
The results should be posted on the NEB's website in December.
In the wake of criticism from the public and politicians, the NEB is now posting more information online.
“So this is just another step in helping the public understand what’s happening through our regulatory oversight and what we’re finding, so they can come to their own conclusions and they can also ask the tough question to us,” Watson said.
Kinder Morgan’s drill scenario did not involve releasing any substances on the water, but crews responded as if roughly 1,000 barrels of oil spilled from the loading dock at the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby. The response included circling the area with an extra containment boom and calling in Western Canada Marine Response Corporation, which arrived with three vessels and an extra containment boom. Meanwhile, back at the Executive Plaza Hotel on North Road, Kinder Morgan set up an incident command post that was buzzing with staff from a wide variety of agencies and organizations, including Western Canada Marine Response Corporation, the NEB and the Coast Guard. The City of Burnaby was invited but declined to participate, according to Mike Davies, Kinder Morgan’s senior director of marine development.
“We’ve been inviting them since last May,” he said. “We’d prefer if they could come. It’s a great opportunity to practise coordination and communication.”
As part of the emergency response, Kinder Morgan would contact the public and the City of Burnaby as soon as possible.
