Tag: Pipelines

Rolling Stone discovers Northern Gateway controversy, but gets lost on the way to Kitimat

Rolling Stone article on Canadian pipelines
A screen grab of the Rolling Stone article on the Canadian Northern Gateway and Keystone pipelines.

It’s every muscian’s dream to make it On the Cover of the Rolling Stone. (And when Rolling Stone does investigative journalism, every politician’s nightmare).

Now the venerable, storied music mag has discovered the Northern Gateway pipeline, running a story on August 2 on its website and slated to appear in the next dead tree issue on August 16.

The article by Jeff Goodell is a sort of a primer for hip but not yet clued in Americans on the controversies over Canadian pipelines. It features the usual nasty depiction of the bitumen sands with a file photo from the Washington Post via Getty.

But does Kitimat rate a mention in the magazine that has celebrated the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the (original and real) Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, the Police, Nirvana, Justin Bieber and The Sheepdogs?

Nope.  Imagine that, an entire article on the Northern Gateway Pipeline and not one mention of Kitimat. Instead Goddell says:

Canada is pushing for a new route called the Northern Gateway, which would cut through three major watersheds in western Canada and turn the fragile coast of British Columbia into a bustling tanker port.

 

In one way Kitimat is in good company, for when the band that originated the “Cover” song, Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, did make Rolling Stone, the magazine cover had “What’s-Their-Names Make the Cover.”

It’s one thing not to get any respect for Kitimat from the Alberta media, but at least Albertans spell Kitimat right (most of the time–although sometimes they get Kitamaat Village wrong). Here in the northwest we’re used to being dissed by Albertans.

Of course, while the entire coast is endangered by increased traffic in supertankers, it’s Kitimat that is the perhaps maybe, perhaps sometime, perhaps inevitable, perhaps never “bustling tanker port.”

So what could Kitimat do  to make it up from being ignored on the back pages of Rolling Stone to make it to the famous and proverbial cover?

My first idea was a vision of the District of Kitimat Council forming themselves into a rock band.

Joanne and the……  you can come up with an idea for a name, but I am not sure that would work.

Or maybe if we had a Justin Bieber concert at Riverlodge? That might keep young people from leaving Kitimat at least for a while.

Seriously. We’ve been ignored by Rolling Stone up until now. Now we’re that close to being   equal to What’s-Their-Names.

Maybe Kitimat can change that.

So now the people of Kitimat have a new challenge, beyond dealing with Enbridge, the JRP, the province and the feds,  beyond spending those long months clearing snow and those brief summer days of fishing, and that challenge is: get Kitimat on the cover of the Rolling Stone.

 

US pipeline agency slams Enbridge, calls for independent oversight of Wisconsin cleanup

The US agency that looks after pipelines, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, has issued an updated “Corrective Action Order” on the oil spill at Grand Marsh in Wisconsin, slamming Enbridge because the company’s “integrity management program may be inadequate.”

The order goes on to say:

PHMSA has communicated its longstanding concerns about this pattern of failures with Respondent [Enbridge] over the past several years. Given the nature, circumstances, and gravity ofthis pattern of accidents, additional corrective measures are warranted.

The Corrective Order tells Enbridge to file its cleanup plans with the PHMSA and to have its actions checked by an independent, outside agency.

Before the PHMSA allows Enbridge to restart Line 14, which runs from Superior, Wisconsin, to Mokena, Illinois, and is a part of the 1,900 mile-long Lakehead Pipeline system, which transports “hazardous liquid” from Neche, North Dakota, to Chicago, Illinois, with an extension to Buffalo,

Enbridge must (1) submit, for review and approval, a comprehensive written plan, including timelines for specific actions to improve the safety record of Respondent’s Lakehead pipeline system and (2) hire an independent third party pipeline expert to review and assess the written plan, which the third party will submit to PHMSA and to Respondent concurrently. Further, the third party expert must oversee the creation, execution and implementation of the actions identified in the plan, and must provide monitoring summaries to PHMSA and Respondent concurrently. Respondent must commit to address any deficiencies or risks identified in the third party’s assessment, including repair and replacement of high-risk infrastructure. The plan must be sufficiently detailed with specific tasks, milestones and completion dates.

At a minimum, the plan must address:
a. Organizational issues, including the promotion of a safety culture and creation of
a safety management system;
b. Facilities response plan;
c.Control room management;
d.Priorities for pipe replacement;
e.Training;
f.In-line inspection result interpretation;
g.Current engineering and probability of failure modeling;
h.Leak detection systems;
1.Sensor and flow measuring and valve replacement;
J.Integrity verification;
k.Quality management system; and
1.Any other risk, task, issue or item that is necessary to promote and sustain the
safety ofits pipeline system.

The agency notes also that

After receiving and analyzing additional data in the course of this investigation, PHMSA may identify other corrective actions that need to be taken. In that event, Respondent will be notified of any additional measures required and further amendment of the CAO will be considered. To the extent consistent with safety.

The order says Enbridge will be given an opportunity for a hearing prior to the imposition of any additional corrective measures.

The PHMSA  Corrective Order was issued about the same time as Canada’s National Energy Board announced that it was conducting its own safety audit of Enbridge operations.

PHMSA Amended Corrective Action Order_08012012

Gateway JRP denies request from Nathan Cullen to hold hearings in Kitimat

The Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel today denied a request from Skeena Bulkley Valley MP to reconsider its decision not to hold the questioning round of final hearings in Kitimat. The JRP is still reserving its decision on locations for final arguments.

The panel had previously decided to hold those hearings in Prince Rupert, Prince George and Edmonton.

In its ruling on Cullen’s request, the JRP said:

Your request for the Panel to reconsider its decision on the locations for the questioning phase of the final hearings did not contain any new information that was not considered by the Panel in its original determination. As such, your request is denied. The Panel further notes that no decision has been made with respect to the location for the final hearings for final argument. As indicated in Procedural Direction #8, these locations will be announced at a later date.

 

Cullen had also asked to be allowed to question government participants in the hearing.  That request was also denied because filed the request after the deadline. Cullen also plans to question Northern Gateway witnesses and so the JRP reminded him that:

In accordance with the Panel’s letter of 25 July 2012, you are reminded that the names of the witnesses or witness panels you intend to question and an estimate of how much time you will need to question each party or witness panel is to be submitted by 3 August 2012.

NEB conducting safety audit of Enbridge

The National Energy Board is following up a highly critical report by the US National Transportation Safety Board on the Marshall, Michigan spill by conducting an overall safety audit of Enbridge pipeline management and practices.  The NEB says the review began even before the NTSB report was released:

even prior to the release of the final report, we have been reviewing Enbridge’s management practices. In the next weeks and months, we will be conducting safety audits to review and confirm that improvements, particularly to their control room practices in Edmonton, are satisfactory.

In a letter to the public from NEB chair, Gaétan Caron, posted on the NEB website, the agency says: “Pipeline safety is and always has been of paramount concern to the National Energy Board and we recognize it is of growing concern to Canadians.”

The letter goes on to say:

Given recent events, it is important that Canadians understand how we hold companies accountable for public safety and protection of the environment and take swift and appropriate action when they do not.

The Board takes a proactive approach to preventing spills and releases, with the ultimate goal of seeing none at all. We require pipeline companies to anticipate, prevent, manage and mitigate potentially dangerous conditions associated with their pipelines.

To do this, we conduct compliance verification activities which include things such as inspections, compliance meetings, emergency exercises, audits and investigations on a regular basis with all companies we regulate. In the specific case of Enbridge, in recent years the NEB has conducted approximately 25 compliance verification activities per year, focusing on every aspect of their management system. In addition, the NEB imposed two precautionary pressure restrictions on Enbridge pipelines, one in 2010 and another in 2011, which remain in effect.

When the NEB identifies deficiencies in a company’s systems, projects or programs, we require the company to immediately implement changes to correct those deficiencies or to develop a corrective action plan for NEB approval. It is important to note that we aim to prevent incidents from occurring in the first place and we will take all available actions at our disposal to protect the environment and the public. The NEB may revoke authorizations, impose safety orders that restrict operations, issue stop-work orders and monetary penalties as well as pursue criminal prosecution.

The NEB has also reviewed the synopsis of the National Transportation Safety Board’s report on Enbridge’s Line 6B rupture in Michigan in 2010 to see what we can learn in the interests of public safety and environmental protection. A thorough review of the final report will be conducted in order to identify all lessons that may be applied to pipelines and companies under the Board’s jurisdiction, however even prior to the release of the final report, we have been reviewing Enbridge’s management practices. In the next weeks and months, we will be conducting safety audits to review and confirm that improvements, particularly to their control room practices in Edmonton, are satisfactory.

The NEB goes on to stay that Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act (formerly Bill C-38) is giving the agency more bight:

 the Government of Canada will be adding another tool to our compliance and enforcement toolkit: administrative monetary penalties (AMPs). The new AMP sections in the NEB Act set out the maximum daily penalties for both individuals and companies. For individuals the maximum daily penalty is $25,000 for each violation and for companies the maximum daily penalty is $100,000 per violation.

The Act stipulates that each day a violation continues is considered to be a separate violation. This means that separate penalties could be issued per infraction, per day with no maximum total financial penalty.

Some of the details of the AMPs design are described in the government amendments to the NEB Act, but other details, such as what activities will be considered violations, will be written in a new regulation. We have committed to have these new regulations ready to use by July 6, 2013.

The NEB says it will continue to make public any enforcement measures it takes.

As a part of our Action Plan on Safety and Environmental Protection, we began posting all documents related to Board-initiated safety and environmental compliance actions to our website in fall of 2011.

The Board is committed to continually improving the way we do business and we welcome any opportunity that allows us to do so in the interests of pipeline safety and environmental protection.

Enbridge has not yet responded to the NEB release.

Haisla ask Gateway JRP to force Enbridge to release more Kalamazoo spill information

The Haisla Nation have asked the Northern Gateway Joint Review panel to force Enbridge to reveal more information about the pipeline rupture and oil spill near Kalamazoo, Michigan, in July 2010. The Haisla are also asking for more and better information about the $500 million project upgrades that Enbridge announced last month.

In a notice of motion filed July 30, with the JRP, lawyers representing the Haisla Nation note that they had previously asked Enbridge “a number of questions relating to Enbridge’s spill of 3,785,000 litres of diluted bitumen into the Kalamazoo River at Marshall, Michigan (the ‘Kalamazoo Spill’).”

The notice then notes that “Northern Gateway refused to reply as the matter was under investigation by the United States National Transportation Safety Board… The NTSB’s Accident Report was adopted on July 10, 2012 and has now been released to the public. The basis for Northern Gateway’s refusal to answer the Haisla Nation’s information requests is, therefore, no longer present.”

The Haisla are asking the JRP

that Northern Gateway is required to file evidence relating to the Kalamazoo Spill
which identifies the cause of the pipeline rupture and the extent to which
Enbridge’s pipeline maintenance, monitoring and response approach caused and
contributed to the volume of the spill by a date to be fixed by the Panel;

As for the upgrades, the Haisla notice of motion notes

Northern Gateway has identified additional design features, which it states will “enhance the safety and reliability of the pipelines over and above standard industry practice”. The design features identified in the Reply Evidence include increased wall thickness of the pipeline, additional increases in pipe thickness for crossings at major tributaries to the Fraser, Skeena and Kitimat River, the placement of remotely operated isolation valves on each side of major tributaries of the Fraser,Skeena and Kitimat Rivers, and dual remote monitoring systems ….
Northern Gateway has not provided any details relating to these proposed design
features. Their relevance and suitability to enhancing safety and reliability of the
pipelines cannot, therefore, be assessed.

The motion asks

that Northern Gateway is required to provide details of its proposed additional
design features for thicker pipes for the pipeline generally and at identified
watercourse crossings, for additional valve placements, and for additional remote
monitoring, as well as all studies and reports that support how these additional
design features enhance pipeline safety, by a date to be fixed by the Panel.

The Haisla motion also asks for more details on various environmental and other questions.

The Joint Review Panel has not yet ruled on the Haisla motion.

Haisla Nation Notice of Motion  (pdf)

Kitimat asks Joint Review Panel to clarify, reconsider decision to bypass town for final hearings

The District of Kitimat has asked the Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel to reconsider its decision to bypass the town for the final questioning and final argument hearings “given the significant impact the project will have on Kitimat.”

On July 16, 2012, Mayor Joanne Monaghan sent a letter to the JRP asking for the reconsideration. That letter was posted recently on the JRP website.

Monaghan’s letter says:

The District of Kitimat occupies a key location in the Northern Gateway project. Enbridge’s pipeline will terminate in Kitimat and the new terminal for shipping bitumen will be located here. Our community will not only be subjected to the risks posed by two pipelines, but also is the only community along the pipeline route that will be assuming the risks associated with tanker traffic on Douglas Channel.

We understand that the Joint Review Panel chooses appropriate hearing facilities that are safe, of adequate size and can logistically and technologically accommodate a hearing with many participants. Kitimat can comfortably provide all of those components, therefore we request clarification on the decision to exclude Kitimat from the hearings.

On July 5, the JRP decided to hold the the questioning hearings will begin on September 4, 2012 in Edmonton followed by hearings in Prince George and Prince Rupert.

The Joint Review Panel was able to hold a successful preliminary hearing at a packed Riverlodge Recreation Centre, in Kitimat, in August, 2010 and the National Energy Board held hearings on the KM LNG project at Riverlodge in June, 2011. The current JRP hearings were held at the Haisla Recreation Centre at Kitamaat Village at the request of the Haisla Nation to accommodate the needs of the Elders.

 

District of Kitimat Letter to JRP  (pdf)

Province of BC refuses to provide witnesses for Gateway Joint Review hearings

The province of British Columbia has refused requests from some of the intervenors in the Northern Gateway Joint Review to provide witnesses for cross-examination during the final stages of the hearings.

In a letter to the JRP dated on July 20, and posted recently on the JRP website, Christopher Jones, counsel for the province in the hearings says: “I write only to note that the province is an intervnor, not a government participant. Also as the province has not filed evidence, it will not be providing witnesses for cross-examination at the final hearings.”

It was just four days later that Premier Christy Clark and members of her cabinet, in releasing the  Liberal government’s five conditions for the Northern Gateway project which called for “Successful completion of the environmental review process.”   The provincial government has consistently refused to take part in the proceedings, and with the credibility of the Joint Review process already under question because of the limitations on reviews in Stephen Harper’s Bill C-38, BC’s continued refusal to participate can only further undermine that credibility.

 
Province of British Columbia Questioning at Final Hearings (pdf)
 

Christy Clark’s Gateway conditions overturn west coast tanker moratorium, Dix tells reporters

Adrian Dix and Rob Goffinet
BC NDP leader Adrian Dix, right, speaks to Kitimat Councillor Rob Goffinet, left, after a breakfast meeting with District of Kitimat Council members on July 30, 2012. (Robin Rowland/Northwest Coast Energy News)

B.C. premier Christy Clark’s five conditions for the Northern Gateway Pipeline, in effect, overturn the west coast tanker moratorium, NDP and Opposition leader Adrian Dix told reporters in Kitimat, Monday, July 30, 2012.

Dix made the remarks after a breakfast meeting with members of District of Kitimat Council prior to embarking on a three day trip down Douglas Channel and the Inside Passage to see the proposed tanker route for himself.

The second of the five conditions for the pipeline, set out last Monday by Premier Clark calls for:

World-leading marine oil spill response, prevention and recovery systems for B.C.’s coastline and ocean to manage and mitigate the risks and costs of heavy oil pipelines and shipments

“It is an overturning of what’s been a government of BC policy for a long time, which is for a moratorium for super tankers on this part of the coast. That’s not a condition, that’s an overturning,” Dix said in a brief scrum with reporters after the breakfast and before heading to Kitamaat Village to start his boat trip.

“The frustration is that our premier’s position is that we should sell our coast got for money.  The premier has a report that says the projects bad for the province, it’s bad for the economy, it’s bad for the environment, that’s the concluson of her report and now she says ‘we’ll forget about that if you give us a few bucks.’

“I don’t think most people agree with that in British Columbia and so what we’ve tried to do is to take a more serious approach. In this case, the province gave up our jurisdiction. If people are concerned about spills and concerned about the environmental impact as the Liberal purport to be, they wouldn’t have handed over the right to decide on environmental assessment fully to the federal government, which, by the way supports, the project.”

The Clark had government had declined to take part in the Northern Gateway Joint Review process and so did not produce any evidence for the panel prior to the filing deadline.

Dix said the Liberal policy on the JRP was, “Like a student who misses a deadline for a term paper, they missed the deadline to produce evidence in the process and now after the debate has gone on, the Premier wants to get into the debate.”

He concluded by saying, “This isn’t about her, it isn’t about me, it’s about the economy and the environment of this province for decades to come. And that’s the approach we’ve  [the NDP Opposition] taken.”

The “informal” tanker “moratorium” has been in effect since 1972 and requires oil tankers transiting the west coast to remain fire out to sea and away from Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait, and the Queen Charlotte Sound.

In 2009, Stephen Harper’s Conservative government said there was no moratorium on tanker traffic on the coast of British Columbia and have maintained that position ever since.

In December 2010, the House of Commons passed a non-binding motion to ban bulk oil tanker traffic in the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound.

Dix said he was, “In Kitimat to meet with the community and of course in Kitimat village with the Haisla. Later today he will go  “for a trip down where the tankers will go if the Enbridge project succeeds, go down the Channel to Hartley Bay and then over the next couple of days to Bella Bella. Dix said hew as in the northwest to “take note of that in person. I always like to see things for myself, meet with people and hear what they have to say.”

Alison Redford accuses BC of “dividing Canada” with pipeline conditions

The premier of Alberta, Alison Redford, has released a stinging news release on the conditions outlined by British Columbia for pipelines crossing the province and tanker traffic on the coast.

A key phrase in the release says:

Leadership is not about dividing Canadians and pitting one province against another—leadership is about working together. That’s when our country benefits—that’s when Canada leads. Through a Canadian Energy Strategy, the provinces and territories together will reach their full energy potential and contribute to increased prosperity and a higher standard of living for all Canadians.”

Political analysts are interpreting Redford’s statement with its references to “free trade” as meaning that Alberta has rejected BC’s demand for a “fair share” of energy revenue.

The Globe and Mail quotes Alberta’s Official Opposition leader, Danielle Smith of the Wildrose party, as saying  BC . should be looking for more money from the federal government.

In Ottawa, the pro-pipeline Minister of Natural Resource, Joe Oliver, issued an unremarkable statement promoting  responsible resource development that managed to avoid mentioning the BC announcement; a statement that could be regarded as a classical press release that says absolutely nothing.
 

 

Here is the complete news release as posted on the premier’s website:

Premier Alison Redford issued the following statement following the Government of British Columbia’s announcement regarding the Northern Gateway Pipeline:

Alberta is committed to building our country and cementing Canada’s position as a global energy superpower. Leadership is about working together, and that’s when our country benefits from our energy economy.

Today, the Government of British Columbia released a list of requirements to be met to satisfy their concerns about the perceived environmental risks associated with the Northern Gateway Pipeline. Every Canadian, no matter what province they call home, expects that energy development is done with a high degree of environmental safeguards. This is why a rigorous environmental review is underway by the National Energy Board. It is why the company involved has committed an additional $500 million for increased monitoring and safety measures. These efforts, combined with the fact that pipelines are still by far the safest means by which to transport oil, significantly mitigate the environmental risk and weaken the BC government’s argument for compensation based on potential risk.

As Alberta has said repeatedly, and as we saw in the recent report from the Senate’s Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee, accessing new energy markets is a national imperative. It is essential for the economic benefit of Canada.

Our confederation works as well as it does because of the free flow of goods and products through provinces and territories—including forest products, oil, liquefied natural gas, potash, uranium, grain and manufactured goods.

We’ve worked very hard through our New West Partnership to ensure free trade across the BC/Alberta/Saskatchewan borders and the shared economic rewards have been great for our citizens.

Leadership is not about dividing Canadians and pitting one province against another—leadership is about working together. That’s when our country benefits—that’s when Canada leads. Through a Canadian Energy Strategy, the provinces and territories together will reach their full energy potential and contribute to increased prosperity and a higher standard of living for all Canadians.”

New US report slams Enbridge for spill record, as scientific investigation opens into diluted bitumen

A new US report is slamming Enbridge for its record on oil spills, just as the BC government set out strict new conditions for building pipelines and tanker traffic in the province.

The United States National Wildlife Association issued a report today called Importing Disaster, The Anatomy of Once and Future Oil Spills. (pdf of report at the bottom of this page)

At the same time,  the US Academy of Sciences has opened a new investigation into diluted bitumen.

 

 

 

A letter critical of Enbridge, previously overlooked by the US media is getting new traction, as the anniversary of the Marshall, Michigan, Kalamazoo River spill approaches on July 25.

Enbridge, so far, has not responded to the National Wildlife Federation report.

The environmental group opens the report by saying:

As the biggest transporter of Canadian tarsands oil into the U.S., Enbridge has aresponsibility to the American public to manage their operations in a manner that protects our comm unities and natural resources. But tarsands oil is a very different beast than conventional crude oil, and it is difficult to transport the former safely through pipelines that were designed for the latter. That’s because tarsands oil is more corrosive(due to its chemical mixture)and abrasive(due to high-gritminerals), weakening the pipes to the point  that they are more susceptible t oleaks and ruptures. Remarkably, there are no standards in place to ensure that new pipelines are built, maintained and operated with this fact in mind.

The National Wildlife Association goes on to say:

 fossil fuel companies have a ‘stranglehold’ on our political establishment, preventing even modest initiatives that could make our energy safer and cleaner. That lobby strategy keeps in place a system that’s led to 804 spills by Enbridge alone in the last decade, and a total of 6,781,950 gallons of oil spilled in the U.S. and Canada.

“Rather than focus on safety and cleanup, Enbridge is recklessly moving ahead with plans to expand their pipeline network in the Great Lakes region and the Northeast, and to double down on high carbon fuel that is proving nearly impossible to clean from Michigan’s waters,” said Beth Wallace, NWF’s Great Lakes outreach advisor.

NWF’s report recommends comprehensive reforms to break the cycle of spills and pollution that continue to threaten communities and speed global warming.  Among them, the report calls for stronger safety standards that account for increased dangers associated with heavy tar sands oil, increasing investment in clean energy and efficiency, and campaign and lobbying reforms that would put impacted citizens on a level playing field with Big Oil in the halls of Congress.

The NWF report then says:

 The Kalamazoo spill may have been a poster child for corporate negligence but it is far from the company’s only black mark. According to Enbridge’s own reports, between 1999 and 2010, they have been responsible for at least 800 spills that have released close to seven million gallons of heavy crude oil into the environment — or approximately half the amount of oil that spilled from the Exxon Valdez in 1989.

Canada has seen its own share of Enbridge heartache, including a 61,000 gallon spill earlier this summer near Elk Point, Alberta.

The National Wildlife Federation report is calling for  stronger pipeline safety standards that account for the dangers of transporting bitumen sands oil from Canada amd wants more rigorous reviews of all pipeline projects. The report calls bitumen sands oil “the planet’s dirtiest oil.”

US media covering the National Wildlife release and looking to the anniversary of the Kalamazoo disaster, are now quoting an overlooked letter from the US advocacy group Public Citizen issued on June 25.  

Concerned about Keystone XL pipeline, the advocacy group sent a letter to the Texas House of Representatives, recommending that the state should not wait for US federal rules to prevent tar sands pipeline spills. Public Citizen called the industry’s track record “troubled” and asked the committee to take up legislation that would give Texas broader authority over pipelines.

The committee will examine state regulations governing oil and gas well construction and integrity, as well as pipeline safety and construction, to determine what changes should be made to ensure that the regulations adequately protect the public. Public Citizen will testify in support of stronger rules for the Seaway pipeline (an existing line repurposed to carry tar sands instead of crude oil), the Keystone pipeline (whose southern leg is not yet built) and proposed future tar sands pipelines.

“These companies keep calling it petroleum, but it’s not – these are pipelines of poison,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen’s Texas office.

The media reports on the NWF release are pointing to a new investigation by the US National Academy of Sciences on the safety of diluted bitmenl safety in the United States, that will be part of a report to the US Congress

 An ad hoc committee will analyze whether transportation of diluted bitumen (dilbit) by transmission pipeline has an increased risk of release compared with pipeline transportation of other liquid petroleum products.  Should the committee determine that increased risk exists, it will complete a comprehensive review of federal hazardous liquid pipeline facility regulations to determine whether they are sufficient to mitigate the increased risk.

On June 25, the committee added three industry experts to the panel as there is growing scrutiny over dilbit in the US, which could become an issue in the presidential race.

NWF Enbridge Oil Spill (PDF)