Photo of North Saskatchewan River near Prince Albert courtesy of Mervin Brass of Treaty 4 News.
We now have a new and updated account of Husky Oil’s response time to a pipeline rupture last Wednesday near Maidstone.
The company’s initial report to the province indicated the spill was detected last Wednesday night at about 8:00 pm, but it wasn’t until 10:00 am the next morning that crews arrived on site to shut the line down.
A detailed account released by the company yesterday afternoon indicates the pipeline monitoring system detected pressure problems with the line when several segments were returned to service. According to the company, this is normal.
The company release says crews were dispatched along the gathering system but could not find a leak. Arrangements were then made for aerial surveillance of the line at first light. At 6:00 am, the pipeline near Maidstone was shut down.
Aerial surveillance detected a sheen on the river and emergency crews were dispatched to the site Thursday morning.
Up to 250-thousand litres of heavy crude spilled into the river from about 8:00 pm on Wednesday, July 20th until 6:00 am on the 21st.
Premier Brad Wall will be talking about the spill during a scrum with reporters later today.