AER still trying to impress the Supreme Court of Canada, re Ernst vs AER ruling ahead? Issues order to Trilogy to stop using leaking oil-water emulsion pipeline at Fox Creek, which company had already done. Spill grown to five football fields in size

Where’s the AER’s formal order to Encana, to update the public, and especially Rosebud, about the company illegally frac’ing the community’s drinking water aquifers in 2004 and covering-up, to this day, the subsequent contamination of the drinking water supply with dangerous methane, ethane, and other chemicals? 

Where’s the AER’s order to Encana to disclose all the chemicals Encana injected during drilling, cementing, acidizing, frac’ing, servicing, remedial cementing into the more than 200 gas wells frac’d into the fresh water zones around Rosebud?

Does AER avoid issuing orders to Encana when the company breaks the law because past Encana VP, Gerard Protti, is AER Chair?

Regulator issues formal order to Trilogy Energy over Alberta pipeline leak by The Canadian Press, October 14, 2016, BOE Report
CALGARY – The Alberta Energy Regulator has issued a formal order to oil and gas producer Trilogy Energy to contain, clean up and report on a pipeline leak from its operations in north central Alberta.

AER spokesman Peter Murchland says the order requires the company to stop using its leaking pipeline, which it has already done, and formalizes a schedule of reports. It also orders Trilogy to provide daily updates for the public on its website.

The company has said the oil and water mixture that leaked has covered about three hectares of marshland — the size of roughly five Canadian Football League fields — approximately 15 kilometres from Fox Creek.

In an update on its website Friday, Trilogy says it still doesn’t know the volume of the spill or what caused the leak discovered on Oct. 6.

It says two birds were found dead on site within 48 hours of the spill but no dead wildlife has been found since then. [Emphasis added]

Kaybob Area Incident Update by Trilogy Energy, October 13, 2016
Actions taken October 11th and 12th, 2016 included:
Continued focus on critical activities of improving site access, recovering fluids and
collecting water and soil samples.

 Access:

o Graveled roads to improve accessibility and safety
o Mulchers on site to improve access trail
o Rig matting and other equipment delivered to site
o Continued aerial surveillance and walking inspections

 Sampling:

o Continued water and soil sampling activities

 Recovery and Waste Management:

o Fluid continues to be recovered and pumped into onsite tanks, then
transported for disposal at an approved waste facility
o Synthetic liner was delivered to the site to be used to construct a containment
cell for all excavated contaminated soil
o Existing booms were inspected and maintained
o Conducted further electromagnetic survey on the northwest portion of the
release area

 Wildlife Monitoring:

o Wildlife and aquatics specialists strategically placed flag deterrents and snow
fencing to prevent wildlife access

 Water Control:

o Aqua dam was delivered to the site to be installed as part of the surface water
diversion plan

Subject to changing weather conditions, actions planned for October 13th include:

 Continue analytical updates from delineation and monitoring points (surface
water and soil)
 Conduct follow up soil and surface water sampling and field screening from
selected areas
 Observe and maintain booms
 Continue work to improve site access
 Continue to recover fluids and haul to disposal site
 Deliver more rig matting for setting up additional tanks and a soil containment cell
 Continue inspections and surveillance
 Continue to monitor and divert wildlife

Cause and Volume of Pipeline Spill in Alberta Wetland Still Unknown Six Days In by Carroll Linnet, October 12, 2016, desmogblog.ca

A crude oil pipeline operated by Trilogy Energy Corp has released an unknown volume of oil emulsion, a mixture of oil and produced water, into surrounding marshland, according to the Alberta Energy Regulator.

Trilogy employees conducting a right-of-way inspection on the pipeline, located at the company’s Kaybob Montney oil project near Fox Creek, Alberta, discovered the spill on October 6.

Both the cause and volume of the spill remain undetermined.

An Alberta Energy Regulator spokesperson told DeSmog Canada that an inspector and staff are on site to ensure “an appropriate response to the incident” but could not provide more details on the spill.

An update published on Trilogy Resource’s website Tuesday evening says the pipeline has been shut in and purged to contain the source of the leak and added, “the volume of the spill has yet to be determined.”

The company, managed by Calgary Flames co-owner Clayton Riddell, estimates the spill currently covers three hectares of land, the equivalent of about 120 tennis courts, in a remote area. 

In 2011 a spill from a pipeline operated by Plains Midstream contaminated just over three hectares of beaver habitat and muskeg in a remote area near Little Buffalo, territory of the Lubicon Cree First Nation, after releasing 28,000 barrels of oil, almost 4.5 million litres, into the environment. It is considered one of the largest oil spills in Alberta’s history.

According to the Alberta Energy Regulator, the Trilogy Energy spill location made the incident difficult to respond to.

It’s tough to access. It’s really densely vegetated. The past few days have been spent creating an access to the impacted area so the crews can begin the deliniation [sic] and remediation work,” a spokesperson for the regulator told the Edmonton Journal.

Trilogy has developed a diversion plan that will minimize the infiltration of surface water and prevent further disbursement of oil,” the update from the company reads. [With the size of the spill increasing, is their “plan” working?]

Environmental specialists, wildlife experts and crews are on site assessing the situation, working closely with the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER).”

Sampling and monitoring, recovery, waste management and wildlife and water control plans have been developed and are pending AER approval.”

The statement adds the company is collecting water and soil samples and that wetland and environmental assessments are ongoing. The company says efforts are in place to monitor and deter wildlife from entering the spill zone.

According to research conducted by the Florida State University, oil companies consistently underreport oil spill volumes, especially in instances of small spills and in remote areas.

In July, Husky Energy drew criticism for failing to properly report a pipeline spill that contaminated the North Saskatchewan River, a major source of drinking water.

An incident report on the Alberta Energy Regulator’s website claims “there have been no reported impacts to wildlife” from the Trilogy pipeline release, although a spokesperson told the Edmonton Journal that response crews found two dead birds at the spill site as well as impacted beaver lodges.

A request for comment from Trilogy Resources went unanswered by time of publication. [Emphasis added]

[Refer also to:

2016 10 13: Trilogy oil emulsion pipeline spill in Alberta flowing wetland reaches size of four football fields

2016 10 07: 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 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

2014 04 05: Alleged groundwater pollution concerns by Trilogy at Fox Creek under investigation; Whistleblower: “cement job didn’t go as planned and there was NO cement in the hole” ]

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