Frac Damn, this post was hard to do.
$100,000.00 will cover nothing of the costs of this spill, and likely not much more than one day of the regulators’ and prosecutors’ salaries, expenses and tree-killing photocopying.
The incestuous circle-jerk justice between “regulators,” govt, “courts” and companies is beyond sickening.
No need to wonder why humans are wiping out other species and killing earth’s livability faster than we punish polluters.
Cenovus slapped with $2.5M fine for 2018 offshore oil spill, Fine comes on heels of Husky Energy’s guilty plea this winter by CBC News, Apr 26, 2024
Cenovus Energy has been ordered to pay a $2.5-million fine for its role in the largest offshore oil spill in Newfoundland and Labrador history.
The fine, which was handed down in St. John’s provincial court Friday, must be paid within 30 days.
“We deeply regret 
that the public found outthis incident happened,” said Colleen McConnell, a communications specialist with Cenovus in St. John’s in a statement to CBC News. “We work hard every day to protect each other, our lie and propandize, brainwash your kids in school via CAPP, ignore laws and regulations we don’t like, control regulators, prosecutors and courts to permit everything we demand, including massive deregulation and escape hatches for our crimes so that we can prioritize profts, greed, rape and pillage, destruction, cover-up and pollution ofcommunities and the environment.”
The 2018 spill from a flowline connector in the South White Rose Extension released about 250,000 litres of oil into the Atlantic ocean.
The extension is affiliated with the White Rose field, about 350 kilometres east of St. John’s.
In February, Calgary-based Husky Energy pleaded guilty to three charges laid over the same spill.
The fine represents less than a tenth of one per cent of the $4.1 billion in net earnings that Cenovus reported for 2023.
McConnell’s statement says Cenovus has accepted responsibility for what went wrong and implemented several changes in workflow and oversight.I doubt it, Encana (spawned Cenovus after my lawsuit was filed) had similar problems decades ago. The tech and mistakes are not the problem, greed and kisses for punishments are.
“We’ve also shared our lessons learned so that industry partners canbetter keep their crimes secret for us all to keep increasing our profit rapinglearn from them and identify how those lessons could apply in their operations,” McConnell said.
Husky pleads guilty to causing N.L.’s largest oil spill, faces $2.5M fine by Malone Mullin, CBC News, Feb 28, 2024
Calgary-based Husky Energy pleaded guilty to three charges Wednesday in St. John’s, over five years after it caused the largest oil spill in Newfoundland and Labrador history.
The oil giant faced several federal charges under the Fisheries Act and Migratory Birds Convention Act, as well as charges for breaching Atlantic Accord regulations that have to do with Newfoundland’s offshore industry.
Three out of six total charges were withdrawn. The company was convicted of resuming production when it was unsafe to do so and for polluting the habitats of fish and seabirds.
The 2018 spill leaked 250,000 litres of crude into the White Rose oil field, located about 350 kilometres off the Newfoundland coast.
If that much oil were poured into pop bottles, laid end to end, they would stretch from St. John’s to Witless Bay, N.L., about 35 kilometres away.
According to a statement of facts read out in provincial court Wednesday, the leak happened after the vessel halted production to weather a severe storm. Operators began to resume work even though pressure from one of the ship’s flowlines had dropped.Standard “best” greed practice in Canada for the oil gas and frac industry.
They continued to pump oil through the line for over an hour before turning off the taps altogether.They don’t give a shit about anything but money, more money, lying, more lying, propaganda, covering-up their crimes and using our taxpayer funded courts as their fun, games and circuses.
An investigation found that a buildup of ice-like solids called hydrates had accrued inside a commonly used flowline connector. The normal procedure for melting those hydrates, a hot oil wash, didn’t work to melt them.
That caused the connector to break free from the flowline, spilling the oil.
The crude dispersed into the water before the company could clean it up. At least six birds died and several more were successfully rehabilitated.
A third-party report from experts in Norway determined that Husky shouldn’t have resumed production due to the low pressure readings from the flowline. But the report noted the company undertook “significant effort” to strengthen spill mitigation protocols and upgrade its equipment in the wake of the accident.Voluntary protocols like voluntary guidelines?
- Husky Energy facing federal charges related to 2018 oil spill
- Oil vessel off the Newfoundland coast spills 250,000 litres of crude
A joint submission from Husky and Crown prosecutors is asking for a sentence that would cost the oil producer $2.5 million in fines and fees, to be paid to a national environmental damages fund.
It’s criminal “justice” in Canada, that judges and prosecutors allow such puny punishments which oil and gas companies later use to great PR and propaganda benefits suggesting they’re generous. Do they get to write this off as a donation? Just sickening. This is no punishment, no fine. It’s just an other legal-judicial-polluter con job circle jerk.
A judge will decide on that sentence in April.
Why bother wasting the court’s and a judge’s time? The companies already told prosecutors et al how the “sentence” will play out (so as to benefit them publicly and their profits). See the fed’s glowing propaganda set up below:
1990 Raeside polluters cartoon. Nothings changed as of April 26, 2024
Husky Oil Operations Limited fined $2.5 million for three offences under federal legislation related to crude oil release in Newfoundland and Labrador offshore Press release by Environment and Climate Change Canada, April 26, 2024
What circle jerk justice is this? Husky was bought by Cenovus in 2018, year of Husky’s spill. Why, 6 years later, is Husky getting this punishment, when it now belongs to Cenovus? Why confuse us with two companies? When I first read the media reports, I thought both companies were fined $2.5Million. Not so. Is this babble gab to keep Cenovus out of the crime registry? Me stinks so.
Strong and effective enforcement of Canada’s environmental and wildlife protection laws is one of the concrete ways Environment and Climate Change Canada delivers on the commitment to provide clean air and water, and protect and conserve wildlife species and their habitat.
On April 26, 2024, in the Provincial Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Husky Oil Operations Limited was ordered to pay $2 million after earlier pleading guilty to one charge under the federal Fisheries Act and one charge under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994. The company was also ordered to pay $500,000 for an offence under the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act that was investigated by conservation officers with the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board. A total of $2.4 million will be directedWhat the fuck does “directed” mean? I expect this money will never be paid, as is standard best industry practice in Rape & Pillage Canada, which is they they ordered “directed.”to the Government of Canada’s Environmental Damages Fund to support projects that have a positive impact onthe company’s bottom line Canada’s natural environment.
An amount of $100,000 will be paid to the Receiver General for Canada.
Fucking unbelievable. How many millions of dollars in legal/court expenses/costs/salaries for regulators/prosecutors/judges/staff etc were spent for this crime & pollution-enabling “justice” circle jerk?
The charges relate to a crude oil release on November 16, 2018, at the White Rose oil field in the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore area, where an estimated 250,000 litres of crude oil were released into the environment due to a failure of the subsea flowline connector from the SeaRose Floating Production, Storage and Offloading installation. Crude oil is deleterious to fish and harmful to migratory birds. Between November 18 and 23, 2018, 17 potentially oiled birds were observed from offshore vessels and platforms, seven of which were captured. An oiled bird was also discovered on December 4, 2018. These observations, and subsequent laboratory analyses, confirmed that the oil release affected various migratory birds.
As a result of this conviction, the company’s name will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry.Pathetic. The feds did not link to the registry, so I did. I also searched it for crimes by Encana, Ovintiv, and Cenovus. Zilch. Nadda. Zippo. Even though Encana and its vile offspring have committed crimes, and had fines against them. Some registry. Was this deal with the courts and prosecutors just about keeping Cenovus out of the registry, lie to the world that the company has a clean record? Fucking criminal farce. The Registry contains information on convictions of corporations registered for offences committed under certain federal environmental laws.Oh, just more escape hatch bullshit? Companies pick and choose?
Environment and Climate Change Canada has created a free subscription service to help Canadians stay current with what the Government of Canada is doing to protectpolluters the natural environment.
Quick facts
- This prosecution is the result of comprehensive investigations by Environment and Climate Change Canada environmental and wildlife enforcement officers and the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.
- The three charges against the company include:
- One charge for a contravention of subsection 38(6) of the Fisheries Act for failing to take all reasonable measures to prevent an unauthorized deposit of a deleterious substance into water frequented by fish, or to counteract, mitigate, or remedy any adverse effects that result or that are reasonably expected to result.
- One charge for a contravention of subsection 5.1(1) of the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 for unlawfully depositing a substance that is harmful to migratory birds, namely crude oil, or permitting such a substance to be deposited in water or an area frequented by migratory birds.
- One charge for having ceased work or activity that was likely to cause pollution and resumed it without ensuring it could be done safely and without pollution, contrary to subsection 24(2) of the Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Drilling and Production Regulations, thereby committing offences pursuant to paragraph 194(1)(a) of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act, thereby committing an offence pursuant to paragraph 194(1)(a) of the Accord Act.
- The federal Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 and its associated regulations, including the Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022, protect migratory birds, their nests, and eggs anywhere they are found in Canada. This includes prohibitions against capturing, killing, or harassing certain migratory birds, and against removing, destroying, or disturbing their nests and eggs.
- Environment and Climate Change Canada is responsible for administering and enforcing the pollution prevention provisions of the Fisheries Act, which prohibit the deposit of a deleterious substance into water frequented by fish.
- Created in 1995, the Environmental Damages Fund is a Government of Canada program administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada. The Fund directs monies received from fines, penalties, court orders, and voluntary payments to projects that will repair environmental damage or benefit the environment. The Fund aims to invest in areas where the environmental damage occurred.The damage to the ocean, fish, birds, mammals is likely near a $Billion from this spill, if not much more than that.
…
Cenovus subsidiary fined $1.83 mln for 2018 Canada oil spill by Tanay Dhumal in Bengaluru, Reuters, April 26, 2024
Cenovus Energy IncApril 26 (Reuters) – A Canadian regulator said on Friday a Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) subsidiary has been fined C$2.5 million ($1.83 million) for its role in the 2018 oil spill off the country’s Atlantic Coast.
The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) had laid three charges against Husky Oil Operations Ltd for the spill — the largest in the province’s history — in October 2021.
Husky was acquired by Cenovus Energy for $2.9 billion in the same year.
A leaking flow line from the White Rose Field to the SeaRose storage vessel spilled 250 cubic metres (1,572 barrels) of oil in November 2018, temporarily shutting down all crude production in the waters of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The company was fined after pleading guilty to a charge related to the spill, according to the regulator’s statement.
C-NLOPB said the company was ordered to pay C$2 million for offences under the Federal Fisheries Act and Migratory Birds Convention Act.
It was also ordered to pay C$400,000 into the Environmental Damages Fund and C$100,000 under the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act.
Cenovus Energy did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.
($1 = 1.3662 Canadian dollars)
