The provincial auditor says the Sask-atchewan government should do more to ensure pipelines are safe and not putting the environment at risk.
In her report released June 7, Bonnie Lysyk said the ministry of energy and resources doesn’t have adequate processes in place to ensure full compliance with its pipelines legislation and regulations.
“The increasing use and age of pipelines makes compliance with the laws that much more important,” she said.
The province regulated more than 1,700 licensed pipelines as of 2011. There are also 300 permitted or exempted pipelines that were in place before the current regulations came into force in 2000.
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The pipelines total 23,500 kilo-metres in length.
Lysyk said there should be more on-site inspection when pipelines are being constructed.
“We think that prior to licensing a pipeline that there would be value in actually witnessing the pressure test, perhaps looking at the welding versus just looking at the paperwork around that process,” she said.
When the pipelines are in place underground, Lysyk recommended the ministry obtain more information about the operators’ safety processes and get reports back on spills.
The ministry received reports on 246 pipeline spills in 2011. Of those, the majority were emulsions, or a mixture of oil and water.
About 165 of the spills affected land and a small number affected water but the area affected wasn’t reported for the rest.
Energy minister Tim McMillan said the number of spills has been fairly consistent over the last 10 years even while energy activity and production have increased.
He said the ministry is already acting on Lysyk’s advice.
“Where she’s recognized that documentation may need to be beefed up, we would agree with her and we’ve already actually started to ensure that the documentation is in place.”
McMillan said the province wants a safe, reliable industry in place.
Lysyk noted that one-quarter of the pipelines are more than 40 years old.
“We think that aging pipelines would naturally increase the risk that there is the potential for a leak or an explosion,” she said.
The auditor also recommended that the ministry obtain regulatory authority over the 68,000 flowlines in the province. These are the short pipelines that connect wellheads to storage facilities.
