CANADA, SASK, REGINA, DECEMBER 19 2014. 57,000-GALLON OIL SPILL IN CANADA FORCES CLOSURE OF PIPELINE TO U.S.

CANADA, SASK, REGINA, DECEMBER 19 2014.   57,000-GALLON OIL SPILL IN CANADA FORCES CLOSURE OF PIPELINE TO U.S.

Canadian energy delivery company Enbridge Inc. has temporarily shut down and isolated one of its crude oil pipelines that connects to the United States after a 1,350-barrel, or 56,700-gallon oil spill, the company reported Wednesday evening. 

While the company said it’s not sure how long the cleanup will take or when the pipeline will be re-opened, it insisted that no oil was spilled out of the area within the Regina Terminal in Saskatchewan, where the incident occurred. It’s not yet clear what kind of oil was released — the 796,000 barrel-a-day Line 4 pipeline, which connects to a terminal in Wisconsin, carries heavy, medium, and light sour crude. 

“There are no impacts to the public, wildlife or waterways,” Enbridge said in a statement. “Nearby residents and businesses may detect a faint odour.” A spokesman for Enbridge told Reuters that the spill happened because of a problem with a valve within the terminal, and not because of a problem with the actual pipeline. He called it a “relatively easy fix,” but did not give a timeline for when the system would be back in action. Bloomberg News reported Thursday that Canada’s National Energy Board would meet with Enbridge officials on Friday to discuss when the line could return to service. Enbridge itself is a large player in oil pipelines, both in Canada and the United States.

It has made headlines here due to its role in the largest and most expensive inland oil spill in U.S. history, an event which saw more than 800,000-gallons of thick Canadian tar sands crude oil flow out of a ruptured Enbridge pipeline and into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River. That spill was also the costliest inland oil spill in U.S. history, with Enbridge estimating cleanup costs alone to be about $1.2 billion. 

That doesn’t include reimbursements to homeowners and nearby residents who were impacted. The reason why that spill was particularly disastrous was because of the type of oil involved: Canadian tar sands crude oil, which Enbridge frequently transports. When it spills, tar sands oil does not float on top of water like conventional crude. Instead, it gradually sinks to the bottom, making normal cleanup techniques and equipment of little use. 

Tar sands oil is too thick to transport in its original state, so it also needs chemicals like benzene to liquefy it for pipelines. That means that when tar sands spill, those chemicals evaporate into the air. Following the incident Wednesday evening, Enbridge said it was launching an investigation into the cause of the spill, and would take the results into serious consideration when attempting to prevent spills in the future. “We are committed to the goal of reaching zero spills and will thoroughly investigate the incident for lessons learned,” Enbridge’s statement said.

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Enbridge reports crude oil release from a Regina pipeline terminal

The Canadian Press Posted: Dec 17, 2014 9:10 PM CT Last Updated: Dec 17, 2014 10:16 PM CT 

Enbridge said it expected clean up due to a release of crude oil at its Regina Terminal to be completed on Thursday. (CBC)

The Regina Terminal for Enbridge is in the city's northeast industrial district. (CBC)

The energy company Enbridge has reported a spill of an estimated 1,350 barrels of oil from its Line 4 pipeline at the
Regina Terminal in Saskatchewan.

In a news release issued Wednesday, Enbridge said they shut down a portion of the pipeline around 11:55 p.m. CST Tuesday.

The company said the oil spill occurred entirely within a pumping station and was contained on-site in designated catchment areas.

"There are no impacts to the public, wildlife or waterways," the company said. "Nearby residents and businesses may detect a faint odour."

Enbridge said a cleanup of the oil was expected to be completed Thursday, but there was no estimate for when Line 4 would be restarted.

The company said initial estimates put the volume of the release at approximately 1,350 barrels, although that was subject to change.

It added that all regulatory, municipal and provincial officials have been informed and an investigation is underway.

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1,350 barrels of oil spill at Enbridge pumping station in Regina

Enbridge says 1,350 barrels of oil spilled from a pipeline at its Regina terminal on Tuesday.

CTV Regina

Published Thursday, December 18, 2014 8:02AM CST
Last Updated Thursday, December 18, 2014 4:31PM CST

Enbridge says crews have mopped up most of the oil that leaked from a pipeline at its Regina terminal.

“All the liquid product on the ground, as of early (Thursday) morning, has been completely cleaned up,” said Enbridge spokesperson Graham White.

“So, we’re just doing the finer points of surfaces, the pump station itself, the floors, that type of thing and we expect that to go on for several days yet.”

The energy company says an estimated 1,350 barrels of oil was released from the Line 4 pipeline at its pumping station in the city's industrial area Tuesday night.

There were no impacts to the public, wildlife or waterways, Enbridge said, and air monitoring showed concentrations were within safe limits.

White says the leak has been pinpointed to a failed valve flange, but the cause of the spill remains under investigation.

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Crude oil leak at Enbridge facility in Regina contained, company says

CBC News Posted: Dec 18, 2014 4:49 PM CT Last Updated: Dec 18, 2014 4:49 PM CT

The Enbridge facility in Regina. (CBC)

The National Energy Board and the Transportation Safety Board are investigating the spill of crude oil at a Regina facility owned by Enbridge.

Initial estimates noted that about 1,350 barrels of oil were released.

"For us that's significant," Graham White, a spokesperson for Enbridge, said Thursday. "Any leak to us is significant but certainly a volume of this size is something that we want to take very seriously and look carefully at what the causes might be so that we can ensure this particular type of scenario doesn't occur again on our system."

According to the company, the oil spill took place late on Tuesday night.

"I believe it was between eight and 11 minutes between the time the leak was reported and we were able to shut down the line and contain the source," White said.

An initial investigation by Enbridge found a valve failure likely caused the leak. The company said all the oil was contained to the site and most of the clean-up was completed Thursday morning.

The pipeline was expected to be fully operational sometime later on Thursday.

About 30 workers, including Enbridge employees and contractors, were involved in fixing the leak and cleaning up the site.