In 2004, Enbridge Gas Distribution recorded exceptional progress toward enhancing public safety through the reduction of third party damages.

The number of damages resulting from third parties damaging gas distribution pipelines during excavations decreased 15% in fiscal 2004 (September 2003 to October 2004) and, compared with historical decreases of 5% or less, this is the greatest annual reduction seen in the past decade.

Through the course of the year, Enbridge Gas Distribution has been leading a number of initiatives that have yielded improvements. A significant one is our involvement as a founding member in the Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance (ORCGA), which was formed in 2003 to further efforts to prevent damage to buried facilities throughout Ontario. Based on the model of the U.S. Common Ground Alliance, The Ontario Alliance brings together utility owners and other stakeholder groups such as excavation companies, utility locate contractors, provincial safety regulators and others having an interest in the protection and safety of underground gas utilities and other infrastructure. The Ontario Alliance uses consensus-based processes to develop best practices and successfully implement them throughout industry.

"The Alliance provides a forum for all stakeholders to come together in a productive and collaborative way," says Tatjana Rmus, Manager, Damage Prevention, for Enbridge Gas Distribution. "Through this alliance, we can communicate more effectively with our stakeholders, develop industry practices that make sense, and build a strong safety culture throughout Ontario."

Last year, through the Alliance, Enbridge Gas Distribution employees played a significant role in developing the first publication of the best practices which describe how various damage prevention activities in the industry should occur. For 2005, Enbridge plans to be a lead player in the Alliance's initiative to bring forward government legislation that mandates a One-Call system for utility locations in Ontario.

The Norman Wells pipeline is North America's first totally underground pipeline to be built in discontinuous permafrost.

Owned and operated by Enbridge, the 870- kilometre (540-mile) crude oil pipeline links the oilfields of Norman Wells, Northwest Territories to the Rainbow Pipeline system at Zama, Alberta and is designed to carry up to 4,800 cubic metres (30,000 barrels) each day. The route includes no less than 140 water crossings, two major rivers (the Great Bear and Mackenzie) and 150 significant slopes. Among the challenges of design and construction were problems related to unstable soils and the threat that settlement of the terrain could affect the integrity of the pipeline. To ensure pipe movement remains within the design limit, Enbridge has developed a rigorous monitoring and surveillance program that has become the benchmark for researchers, regulatory agencies and the northern pipeline industry.

In 2004, the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut awarded its Professional Award of Merit for Engineering to Enbridge for our Norman Wells pipeline system. The award recognizes the complexity of the project and its excellent record of EH&S performance.

"The award speaks not only to Enbridge's expertise in the design and construction of northern pipelines, but also to its ongoing record of safe and environmentally responsible operation," says Ann Marie Tout, Manager, Northern Region, Enbridge Pipelines (NW).