Every day, tens of millions of liters of petroleum liquids pass through pipelines that criss-cross Quebec. Often leaks occur, mostly of 1500 liters or less. But unfortunately, under the Canadian Energy Regulator’s Onshore Pipeline Regulations, their operators are not required to report these leaks. Nor to inform the affected municipalities.
However, such leaks can indeed be dangerous. Given the risk of fire, Health Canada also recommends the evacuation of a radius of at least 300 meters in the event of a crude oil spill greater than 208 litres. But how to carry out such an evacuation if the oil leaks of 208 to 1500 liters are not disclosed?
These spills can also cause poisoning. In the short term, volatile hydrocarbons, such as benzene, can cause dizziness, nausea, vomiting, headache and drowsiness. In the longer term, exposure to benzene can lead to a drop in lymphocytes, reproductive problems and different types of leukemia. An unreported leak of 1,500 liters of diluted bitumen may contain two kilos of benzene. The Quebec standard beyond which drinking water is unfit for consumption corresponds to 2 kg of benzene mixed with four billion liters of water, i.e. the volume of a lake one kilometer in diameter and five meters.
In Quebec, the Transportation of Hazardous Materials Regulations require the reporting of accidental releases of hazardous substances. In 2007, the Court of Quebec refused to define a minimum threshold: all must therefore be reported. But the majority of known leaks from a pipeline do not appear in the Urgence-Environnement response register.
It will be remembered that in 2018, a passerby who observed a leak from Enbridge’s 9B pipeline at Mirabel alerted the media. The Government of Quebec has released no information on this subject. Was it Enbridge that failed to notify the authorities of the volume of the leak? Or is it the government that has failed in its responsibility to inform the public?
In Ontario, a regulation explicitly requires pipeline companies to report leaks greater than 25 litres. In the United States, leaks over 19 liters that reach water must be reported to a federal agency. Why does Canada only set the limit at 1500 litres?
Municipalities also regulate the disclosure of leaks. Thus, the Metropolitan Community of Montreal (CMM) has adopted a regulation on water purification which requires the declaration of accidental spills of contaminants likely to reach a purification structure. But this regulation offers too limited protection, since in 2011, Enbridge did not report a 4,000-litre leak that occurred at its Terrebonne pumping station, although the UQAM campus in Lanaudière and various businesses, including a Tim Hortons restaurant, are within 300 meters of the location.
Actions to take, decisions to make
In view of the risks and this negligence, we are asking Ottawa to lower the threshold provided for in its regulations, and Quebec to oblige pipeline companies to report to the competent authorities and the municipalities concerned any leak of more than 25 liters of liquid tanker. It is also essential to make these leaks public, by recording them in the Emergency-Environment response register, for example.
In recent months, these demands have been supported by some thirty scientists, including the director of the Quebec Ecotoxicology Research Center, Patrice Couture, and by more than 20 environmental organizations, including Équiterre, Greenpeace, Eau Secours, Nature Québec. and the Quebec Association for the Fight Against Air Pollution.
They were also unanimously supported by the 23 municipalities of the MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges, as well as by the cities of Mirabel and Montreal-East. Finally, during the meeting on June 15, the president of the CMM, Valérie Plante, declared that this approach “is part of our desire to be able to have better control of the territory”.
On May 31, these requests were emailed to several ministers and senior officials in Ottawa and Quebec.
We have no response from Quebec, but we have received an invitation from the Canada Energy Regulator to participate in a future public consultation. In other exercises of this kind, more transparency had been called for; However, for two years, the federal government has stopped making public even leaks exceeding 1500 liters! This lack of transparency only benefits pipeline operators, to the detriment of the public.
Our elected officials must intervene to force pipeline companies to report oil leaks of 25 liters or more. This information is essential to the protection of our drinking water.