Oil Pipeline Spills 200,000 Liters on Aboriginal Land

A pipeline in Saskatchewan leaked 200,000 liters of oil into an aboriginal community last week. As of Friday evening, 170,000 liters were recovered according to Doug McKnight, the assistant deputy minister in the Ministry of the Economy, which regulated the pipelines in Saskatchewan. It was not immediately clear how the incident happened or which company owns the leaking pipeline. There are many pipelines in the area, and until they excavate it, we will not know which pipe caused the leak.

 

The incident occurred in the lands of the Ocean Man First Nation, 140 km southeast of the capital of Regina. McKnight said the spill is contained in the low-lying area in which it was discovered. Ocean Man has 540 residents, one third of whom live on the reserve.  Chief Connie Big Eagle said the spill was 50 feet in diameter and that an area resident who smelled the scent of oil for a week, located the spill and alerted her on Friday. There are no homes near the spill, but it is 400 meters away from the cemetery.

Tundra, a private grain trading, and James Richardson and Sons energy conglomerate are cooperating with all levels of government to make sure that the affected land is properly restored.

Oil pipelines are essential in the oil-rich provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan to move crude from coast-to-coast, but they have drawn heavy opposition from environmental and indigenous groups.

This spill comes only seven months after another major incident -- a Husky Energy pipeline leaked 225,000 liters into a major river and cut off the drinking water supply for two cities.

Photo courtesy of Reuters.