Oil leak near Fox Creek

 

By Laura Bohnert

The cause of a pipeline failure whose leak has covered an area the size of five CFL football fields is still under investigation 15km from Fox Creek, Alberta.

Trilogy Energy Corp., a Calgary-based oil and gas producer, discovered the leak on the afternoon of Thursday, October 6 at its Kaybob Montney Oil Development.  No one was injured in the incident, but it had already leaked oil emulsions that would cover an area close to three hectares in size into a flowing marsh area, although the total volume of the spill is still unknown.

Representatives of the Alberta Energy Regulator (the AER) have stated the breakdown of the oil emulsion to be 50 per cent water and 50 per cent oil.

An emergency response plan has been called into action by Trilogy Energy.

Crews are on site, alongside environmental and wildlife specialists, and assessments are underway to determine the extent of the leak’s impact, and to begin remediation.  The location of the leak has been determined, and the pipeline has been redirected in order to shut down the faulty section.