AER reacting again to heaps of bad press? Cherry picking data for public display? Do you trust the lying, Charter violating, legally immune, fraudulent pollution enabling AER? Energy deregulator starts tracking company performance to try to reduce pipeline spills. Why now, decades too late?

Subject: Wow!! The Transparency And Public Info. Is Incredible !!
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2017 16:32:41 -0700
From: Stewart Shields
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Whoa!! What in the world is going on here ?? Is the AER trying to convince someone they have a degree of transparency in their make-up?? The very next thing they will be reporting on oil spills and how much of the publics royalty wealth they are returning to the foreign petroleum developers on an annual basis?? The spilled volumes of salty produced water should be much much higher on the AER list, along with offering Alberta Energy the lost volume of publicly owned petroleum in spills and well blow- out to afford the Province the chance to recapture the value of lost public property?? Indeed our government should demand that any company wanting to penetrate and public petroleum zones –needs to add public petroleum losses to their blow out insurance– prior to receiving a license to drill?? Alberta can not afford to constantly lose inventory due to spills and well blow-outs–simply because the AER fail to add these volumes to Petrinex??

Stewart Shields, Lacombe Alberta

Watch first! BNN Interviews Alberta Oil Patch Consultant Brent Nimeck on Lexin and AER’s Orphan Wells: “This problem is 30 years in the making. … I would call it a Ponzi Scheme…. This is an orchestrated fraud from multiple angles: Industry, CAPP and the Alberta Energy Regulator have enabled this to happen. … Through our independent analysis and we’ve confirmed this at multiple sources within the energy regulator, the liabilities are over $300 billion. That’s what’s on the hook for Alberta taxpayers right now – $300 billion.”

Alberta NPD Tweet on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2017. Enabling the oil and gas industry’s horrific spill record, and AER’s much worse fraudulent, lying, propaganda, deregulating and cover-up record?

2017 02 14 Happy Valentine's Day from Alberta NDP, 'Building a pipeline to your heart'

Alberta Energy Regulator names companies behind on pipeline safety by The Canadian Press, February 21, 2017, Global News

The Alberta Energy Regulator says it’s making it easier for the public to see which oil and gas companies are falling behind on pipeline safety.

The regulator launched a new pipeline reporting website Tuesday that lays out several pipeline safety ratings for all operators in the province over the past two years. [Why leave out decades of two spills a day? Did Encana et al and the AER cherry pick the last two years because of the down turn severely limiting activity, and thus spills? Evil data manipulation!]

Crude Awakening:  37 years of oil spills in Alberta

Topping the list for amount of liquid released is Enerplus Corp., with about 875,000 litres leaked, while Apache Canada Ltd. was second with about 629,000 litres leaked.

On an incident per kilometre of pipeline ratio, Chinook Energy has the worst rating with about 52 incidents per 1,000 kilometres, followed by Osum Production Corp. with about 37 incidents per 1,000 kilometres.

[AER & Company Trustwothiness Reality Check:

Companies self report.

Companies do their own incident investigations. AER edits company investigation reports prior to releasing them publicly and suggest the report was generated by AER. 

Is the AER’s data reliable? Most likely not, especially with Encana operating in the province.

For Example, the AER’s spreadsheet lists only 31 incidents for nearly 30,000 km of pipelines for Encana/Cenovus/Ember (previously all Encana).

Believable?  No. Not in the least, given Encana’s track record of lies, law violations and cover-ups in Alberta and elsewhere.]

The regulator said the new reporting platform is designed to create greater transparency as well as push companies to improve their safety performance. [Or is it just more AER propaganda trying to make the world (and Supreme Court of Canada) think it’s a “regulator” operating in the public interest, instead of the cover-up pimp that it is, protecting multinational polluters to the tune of $300 Billion liability hanging around the necks of Alberta taxpayers – on top of the $mega millions in liabilities hanging around the necks of landowners not being paid by unscrupulous companies the regulator isn’t regulating?]

On the whole, pipeline incidents are on the decline in Alberta, with a 44 per cent drop in annual incidents over the past ten years and a three per cent drop between 2015 and 2016. [Is that why the AER is only posting the last two years worth of decades of spills. Shame on you AER – filthy rotten cover-up scoundrel. Let’s see all the data, so that we can choose for ourselves which companies and their predecessors operating in Alberta are the real bad guys.]

Watch below: Fletcher Kent reports – Researcher says Alberta has inadequate oil spill information [Emphasis added]

Energy watchdog [With zero teeth!] tracking company performance to reduce pipeline spills by Reid Southwick, February 21, 2017, Calgary Herald

Alberta’s energy watchdog has set a target to cut the number of pipeline spills that affect wildlife and water systems through added enforcement and more frequent inspections on poorly performing companies. [Are they the poorly performing companies or just the ones that report their non-compliances, leaks, spills and other incidents? Perhaps the real “poor performers” are the corporations that cover-up their crimes and don’t report them to the AER or that get help from the AER covering them up, for example Encana with the assistance of Ex-EnCana VP Gerard Protti and Ex Encana Manager Mark Taylor cozily working at the AER now in upper management positions? Can the AER ever be trusted with such schmooze in staff? Companies also do their own incident investigations – if they choose to, they submit their findings to the AER which edits the company investigation report prior to releasing it publicly – if the AER chooses to, and suggest the report was generated by AER. Slick fraud that has bamboozled Albertans for decades.]

The Alberta Energy Regulator also released an online database that outlines the record of every oil and gas company regarding pipeline spills and other incidents over the past two years.

It believes that by holding companies publicly accountable for their performance, there will be fewer spills.

“All pipeline incidents are preventable,” said Veronique Giry, a vice-president at the energy regulator.

On Tuesday, the AER revealed its goal to reduce the number of spills that have the greatest impact on wildlife, the environment and water systems [But AER always publicly says spills never have any impact on the public, environment, water, wildlife, even when massive sour crude oil is spilled into a river used by a city for its drinking water! Has the AER been lying to the world all these years?] by two per cent over the previous two-year average. This means by the end of the current fiscal year, March 31, there must be no more than 40 of these “high-consequence” incidents. There have been about 30 so far, with little more than a month remaining.

David Helmer, the regulator’s director of pipelines, said officials will consider whether to make the target more aggressive in the next fiscal year.

To meet its goal, Helmer said the regulator has been taking enforcement action against companies when needed, which could escalate to shutting down a pipeline until it’s determined safe to operate.

It has also conducted more regular audits and inspections on companies with a greater numbers of incidents than their peers, which Helmer called “preventative maintenance.”

“It’s an effort for us to make sure we take action to ensure the pipeline performance improves steadily over time, resulting in fewer incidents,” he said.

Over the past 10 years, the number of pipeline incidents fell by 44 per cent while Alberta’s network of pipelines expanded, according to the regulator. There were 460 incidents in 2016, a three per cent decline over the previous year.

The pipeline incidents considered to have significant impacts on the environment and wildlife accounted for seven per cent of the total, while most spills — 61 per cent of the total — released less than one cubic metre of product.

“While we are encouraged by this (decline in incidence), there is more we can do,” Giry said.

“One of the ways we can hep drive industry performance is by holding them more accountable to the public by reporting on their performance.”

[What about publicly listed all companies – Encana is one – that have illegally fractured and or contaminated ground water and drinking water wells Bonavista is another in Alberta? When will AER make a spreadsheet of those law violations and significantly harmful incidents, and release them to the public?]

The regulator’s pipeline spill database allows the public to compare oil and gas companies on several metrics, including the total number of incidents, the number of incidents per kilometre of pipeline and the volume of product spilled.

For instance, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. was responsible for the greatest number of pipeline incidents last year, with 67, but the major producer also runs more pipelines than any other Alberta operator.

When looking at the number of incidents per kilometre of pipeline, Canadian Natural performed far better than the industry average in 2016.

Still, the company along with ARC Resources Ltd. and Enerplus Corp. each reported among the highest number of pipeline incidents considered to have the greatest impact on wildlife and the environment.

ARC Resources and Enerplus each reported four of these incidents while Canadian Natural reported three last year. Four other companies — Bonterra Energy Corp., Cardinal Energy Ltd., Pengrowth Energy Corp. and Penn West Petroleum Corp. — each reported two.

Helmer said the regulator consulted industry on the pipeline performance review, but not every company was happy about it being publicly available.

“We’ve had some industry feedback that was very positive; they saw the value in it and the need for this,” he said. “There is other industry that was concerned about whether the messages will be misinterpreted.” [Emphasis added]

AER expands pipeline incident reporting to drive improved performance Press Release by AER, Feb 21, 2017

A new Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) report designed to improve industry performance provides detailed information on how pipeline operators are performing compared with their peers across Alberta.

The Pipeline Performance Report—focusing on 2015 and 2016 pipeline incidents—is the first in a series of reports the AER is releasing to increase transparency and enhance industry accountability for their performance.

“This new way of reporting on industry performance provides greater transparency and will drive increased industry accountability,” said Jim Ellis, the AER’s president and CEO. “As the province’s regulator, it’s important that we provide Albertans with a better understanding of how pipeline safety is being managed.”

Over the past 10 years, pipeline incidents fell by 44 per cent as the length of pipelines grew by 11 per cent. This drop is a result of better industry education, improved inspection programs, and a greater focus on pipeline safety within the energy industry.

The Pipeline Performance Report reveals that pipeline incidents in Alberta declined by three per cent in 2016 to 460, compared with 473 in 2015. It also shows that 93 per cent of pipeline incidents in 2016 had low-to-medium consequences in terms of public, wildlife, and environmental impacts, while 61 per cent released less than one cubic metre of volume.

“Ultimately we believe every pipeline incident is preventable and operators must continue to focus on regulatory compliance, good pipeline management, and incident prevention,” said Kirk Bailey, executive vice-president of Operations. “By sharing this information and putting increased focus on operators with poor performance, we are protecting what matters to Albertans—public safety and the environment.

This report is part of the AER’s industry performance program, which launched last year to measure, evaluate, and report on energy development activities that the AER regulates, and to help improve operator performance. Additional performance reports will be released in the coming months.

The Alberta Energy Regulator ensures the safe, efficient, orderly, and environmentally responsible development of hydrocarbon resources over their entire life cycle. This includes allocating and conserving water resources, managing public lands, and protecting the environment while providing economic benefits for all Albertans.

Editor’s note: Visit aer.ca to see a Pipeline Performance Report infographic. Stock photos are also available for use and can be found in the media centre section of the website.

Backgrounder: Explaining Performance


FOR BROADCAST USE

Pipeline incidents continue to decline, showing a reduction of three per cent in 2016 compared with 2015, according to a new report on pipeline performance issued today by the AER. The report is the first of a series of industry performance reports the regulator is releasing to provide more transparency and to hold operators more accountable for their actions.

– 30 –

For more information, please contact:

Monica Hermary, AER Public Affairs
Phone: 587-227-1584
E-mail: email hidden; JavaScript is required
Media line: 1-855-474-6356

NR2017-02

[Refer also to:

2017 02 09: On Oil Spills, Alberta Regulator Can’t Be Believed: New Report

2017 01 23: Alberta Energy Regulator in Legal La La Land: AER’s “Public Statement” lies about Ernst vs AER Supreme Court of Canada ruling

2012 06 Ernst Replacement Drinking Water Plains Midstream Crude Oil Spill into Red Deer River

2013 10 22 Ernst still hauling alternate water, Rosedale treated water from Drumheller, Source Red Deer River polluted by Plains Midstream Sour Crude Oil

2013, Ernst hauling alternate municipal drinking water in Rosedale, Alberta, sourced from the Red Deer river, downstream of the Plains Midstream sour crude oil spill. Rosedale is a 45 minute drive one-way for Ernst.

Ernst must haul alternate water because Encana illegally fractured her community’s drinking water aquifers, resulting in this explosive toxic brew:

EESGasMigrationBriefPDFLink

When will AER publicly list all details of all water wells and fresh groundwater contaminated by the oil and gas industry?

And when will AER publicly release all fracs gone wrong?

2013 02 13 AER, then ERCB, nasty, threatening, bullying letter from lawyer Gary Perkins to Stewart Shields requesting records on all Alberta frac incidents

Slides from Ernst presentations.

AER & Trilogy not prepared for the emergency! “Another” Canadian pipeline spills oil and pollutes fresh flowing water; Trilogy Energy Corp leaks oil into flowing wetland in AER’s Blanket Approval Frac Frenzy Pilot Project at Fox Creek

2016 08 03: In Texas, wastewater spills get less scrutiny. In Alberta, do they get any?

2016 08 01: Why isn’t AER’s Fox Creek Frac Frenzy Regulatory Failure front page news? AER releases evaluation of its Play-Based (Blanket Approval) DeRegulation Pilot

2016 07 14: Alberta averages two crude oil spills a day for decades and all the AER can do is “urge” companies to improve detection of pipeline leaks?

2016 06 14: ConocoPhillips pipeline spills 380,000 litres condensate into creek 5 km from grizzly bear protection area 65 km NE Grand Cache Alberta; “Visible as a sheen on the surface of the unnamed creek for about 4.5 kilometres below the leak”

2015 07 17: AER Frac Pilot Project: Earthquakes, tax increases, water restrictions, double homicide, spills and accidents shake Alberta town’s faith in fracking; Aging sour facilities in deregulated Fox Creek a big worry for council; AER’s FracQuake Red Light stops Chevron only 16 days; Families moving out

2014 07 10: AER investigates another CNRL well leak in troubled leaking Primrose field; Cenovus spills 1300 gallons of drilling fluids at Cold Lake

2014 01 09: Where’s the regulator? CNRL releases into formation another 7000 gallons of Crude Bitumen at Primrose, Cold lake, does not yet know how to repair the problem, or past releases 

2009 01 03: Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. Primrose East Bitumen Emulsion Release ERCB Investigation Report January 8, 2013

“You can fix a wellbore, but you can’t repair a fractured cap rock,”

Alberta Environment: Cold Lake frac’d bitumen leak has contaminated groundwater; Nikiforuk: Caprock Integrity, Risks of steam-assisted bitumen recovery too little discussed

“We should probably stop fracking there right now,”

Has AER stopped CNRL’s steam fracs? No.

‘Nobody understands’ leaks at Alberta tar sands high pressure injection operation, Leaks have been going on for weeks with no end in sight, according to a government scientist

2009 snap from ERCB investigation report CNRL high pressure emulsion release at Cold Lake Alberta

CNRL Cold Lake Bitumen Geyser Continues, Despite Company Claims

Cold Lake bitumen release on CNRL’s Primrose site. Source: Emma Pullman

2013 11 23: Apache spills another 1.8 million litres of toxic wastewater near Zama, Third Apache pipeline leak discovered in northern Alberta

2012 09 20: Leak Detection Sensors Miss Most Pipeline Spills

2012 06 19: Enbridge pumping station spills 230,000 litres of heavy crude northeast of Edmonton

2012 06 14: Pipeline spills are not the exception in Alberta, they are an oily reality, Since 2006, province’s pipelines have spilled the equivalent of almost 28 million litres of oil

2012 06 08: Alberta residents angry after oil spills into nearby lake, Premier Alison Redford promises a full investigation

2007 08 06: Alberta oil spills, blowouts double in past year

New Report: Less than 1-percent of Tar Sands Environmental Infractions Penalized by Alberta’s “Best in the World,” “World-Class,” “No Duty of Care,” spying and lying and law violating ERCB (now AER)

In famous flaming water case, regulator to argue ‘no duty of care’ to landowners or groundwater

When will the AER publicly post the details of these intentional Encana “spills?”

HellCalled

Don’t we have the right to know what we’re eating with our bread?

EnCana waste dumping from deviated drilling at 14-12-27-22 W4M near Hamlet of Rosebud November 2012

2012: Above and below, Encana dumping it’s waste on foodland at Rosebud, Alberta

2012 11 EnCana Drilling Waste at Rosebud Alberta

2011: Below, Encana’s waste dumped on the same field at Rosebud

Image result for encana waste dumping rosebud

And when will the AER post the details of these accidental “spills” and leaks?

Image result for encana waste dumping rosebud

Image result for waste dumping rosebud

Above and below, Diana Daunheimer’s “good neighbour” Angle Energy, then Bellaxtrix Exploration, now Transglobe Energy.

Non-compliant messes and abandoned wells and pipelines need a lot of escape routes via company name changes and or acquisitions.

2014 03 13 Diana Daunheimer Fracturing our lives and how it affects us all Site contamination Rosebud River

2012 02 21 Ernst Presentation Belcoo Fermanagh Northern Ireland Innisfail Frac Blow Out (communication event) January 13 2012 Close up

2012 01 13 Innisfail frack communication frac hit

In response to calls about the above frac hit & spill at Innisfail:

etc. 

etc.

etc.

Image result for waste dumping rosebud

ERCB became EUB became ERCB became AER.

It doesn’t matter what name the Alberta government and oil and gas industry gives them. The law violating enabler is just that, an enabler. No regulator anywhere to be seen except by propaganda. ]

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