Alberta to launch pipeline safety inquiry

Review to assess integrity management and response protocols

By Dina O'Meara, Calgary Herald July 20, 2012

CALGARY — The Alberta government is set to launch a three-pronged investigation into oil and gas pipeline safety, noting the province’s’ economic success hinges on the ability to access markets for its energy products.

The review will target how companies manage pipeline integrity, safe crossings over water ways and spill response times and protocols, and will be completed by an undisclosed third party, provincial regulators and industry, said Energy Minister Ken Hughes.

“Alberta has a very strong and stringent regulatory framework but we need to be able to provide Albertans, Canadians and the international community with assurance that pipelines are safe,” Hughes said Friday, in Calgary.

“Let me be clear; if improvements are required I will make sure that they will happen,” he said.

“Let me also be clear that I will hold industry accountable.”

The action follows a series of high profile oil spills in the province, including a 480,000 litre spill of sour crude into the Red Deer River at the beginning of June, and an 800,000 litre spill in northwestern Alberta in May.

To read the entire article go to: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/energy-resources/Alberta+launch+pipeline+safety+inquiry/6966312/story.html

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