Spills and Releases

Our goal is to prevent all spills and leaks from our energy transportation and distribution systems. With this in mind, we carry out spill prevention and detection preventative maintenance programs as part of comprehensive integrity management of our pipelines and facilities. Our communication programs also keep property owners and neighbours near our rights-of-way informed about our system and enlist their help in the prevention, detection and safe response to pipeline spills.

Despite our best efforts to prevent spills, incidents occur. In 2003, Enbridge recorded 62 reportable liquid spills, totalling 1,020 cubic metres (6,410 barrels), from our transmission pipeline systems in Canada and the United States. The company also recorded a reportable gas release from our local distribution system in Ontario and zero reportable gas releases from our pipeline transportation systems in the United States.

In each case, we carried out prompt emergency response procedures to immediately shut down the system, contain the spills and manage potential impacts to the environment and public safety. For liquid petroleum incidents, we also worked closely with landowners, regulatory agencies and other concerned parties to develop remediation and monitoring plans, promptly collecting most of the product and verifying that residual contaminants are appropriately managed.

Spill at Superior Terminal

Our most significant spill in 2003 occurred January 24, when about 715 cubic metres (4,500 barrels) of crude oil spilled from the Lakehead System at our oil terminal near Superior, Wisconsin. The leak was caused by a failure in a section of terminal pipe during oil delivery from the pipe to a storage tank.

Most of the crude oil was contained in the terminal's ditches and retention ponds. About 80 cubic metres (500 barrels), however, breached the terminal's containment system and flowed off site onto the nearby Nemadji River, a tributary of Lake Superior. The ground and river were frozen at the time, helping to prevent spread of the oil into soils or downstream. After oil was cleaned off the surface of the ice, we removed blocks of ice to prevent the small amounts of oil that seeped into cracks from flowing downstream during the spring melt. Tests showed no long-term contamination of water in the river. Under the supervision of regulators, we developed and implemented a remediation plan for the site.

To prevent similar incidents recurring, we reviewed pipe construction and hydrostatic pressure testing records and hydrostatically tested piping at the terminal and at selected stations throughout the Lakehead System. We also improved spill containment ponds at the terminal and developed a risk-based model to assess our ability to contain spills throughout our Liquids Pipelines System. Using this model, we plan to upgrade spill containment facilities at key liquids pipeline stations and terminals in Canada and the United States.

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