CALGARY – The rupture of an Enbridge oil pipeline in Michigan has called into question how safe it is to ship the black gold through a system of underground pressurized tubes.
Canadian regulators say there is no safer method, while environmentalists counter there's no such thing as a safe method of transporting crude.
"Pipelines are the safest way to transport hydrocarbons," said Graham Emmerson, a program manager for pipeline integrity for the National Energy Board (NEB), Canada's national regulator.
The NEB is in charge of any pipeline that crosses a provincial or international border. About 74,000 kilometres of pipe are under its jurisdiction, including most of the large pipelines belonging to Enbridge and TransCanada.
Measured on a five-year average, there are seven oil leaks annually, and 21 for natural gas, according to NEB data.
Emmerson said those leaks are less than 10 barrels of oil, a mere trickle compared to the 19,500 barrels spilled from the ruptured Enbridge Energy Partners pipeline in Michigan.
"If a pipeline is well maintained, if a company is doing the inspections and they are aware of the condition of their pipeline, there really isn't an age limit that you can put on a pipeline's life," Emmerson said. "It's like a car. It really depends on the maintenance that you put into it."
Alberta's pipeline system, which measures 400,000 km, is regulated by the Energy Resources Conservation Board.
With an annual failure rate of 2.1 per 1,000 km of pipe, the Alberta system "is very safe," said spokesman Bob Curran. (Failure means a hit, rupture or leak.)
Curran said the age of a pipeline's licence is no indication of the age of the pipe in the ground; weak pipe segments must be replaced.
Companies are responsible for testing, monitoring and maintaining their pipelines, but the ERCB also does regular field inspections.
All of this is cold comfort for environmentalists like Karen Campbell, a Vancouver lawyer who monitors pipeline issues for the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank.
"A safe mode of transportation for crude oil does not exist. Whenever we are transporting crude oil, there will be a risk of a mishap," she said.
"I think a safer alternative over time is for us to stop transporting crude altogether, and for us to be shifting away from that. Does that sound like an unrealistic proposition? It might, but it's inevitable. And we're going to have to do that as a society some day."
markus.ermisch@sunmedia.ca
