Wall promises full spill investigation following N.B. meeting
Premier Brad Wall says the government will have to wait for an investigation to determine the cause of the Husky Energy pipeline rupture that spilled oil into the North Saskatchewan River, but also determine requirements for self-inspection and regulation when it comes to discovering leaks.
“We’ll see how that came to bear in this particular pipeline. But I want to highlight the fact that we have removed other duties from those inspecting, and we did it prior to this event so that we could have them focus solely on the safety on the pipeline system in the province,” he said.
Wall added the investigation also applies to the differing reports from Husky about when the company first detected evidence of a pipeline rupture. Physical evidence of oil leaking into the North Saskatchewan River was first found the morning of July 21, but changes in pressure were detected the previous evening.
Today, August 3, was Wall’s first visit to northern Saskatchewan since the spill. During his visit, Wall met with environment and government relations ministers along with North Battleford city officials.