What would happen if an oil pipeline burst and spilled its toxic contents into the Fraser River in Prince George?
Planning for a worst-case scenario is a priority for Pembina Pipeline Corporation and last Thursday the Calgary-based company conducted an emergency response training exercise in the Fraser at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park. The five-hour disaster simulation is designed to help Pembina personnel minimize response times in the event of a real-life incident.
The simulation started with a gathering at a command post for a briefing to outline the objectives of the exercise to the 31 first responders who were told the early-morning spill had resulted in the release of 200 cubic metres of light crude oil.
The exercise involved pipeline employees, private contractors, city personnel and Prince George RCMP, who learned how to co-ordinate an emergency response to minimize the impact of the spill on the environment and act quickly if any humans or wildlife come in contact with the oil. A decontamination station was set up at the top of the berm overlooking the river with personnel ready to spray cleaning agents on people, birds or mammals.
“Our main objective is the life safety of our crew and trying to contain as much oil as we can to help mitigate downstream,” said Pembina Pipelines area foreman Chris Hrab, the on-site commander. “So we have two large work boats deploying (the spill containment boom) and setting the anchors and the third boat is our safety guy if we have a man overboard situation. They’re also watching to communicate to the public if we have a pleasure craft coming down the river.”
The start of the operation was delayed by fog and it took about 90 minutes to secure the containment boom in place. Public access to the riverbank was closed during the four-hour simulation, as it would be if there was a real spill. Manikins were stationed along the shore at several points to discourage birds from landing in the river.
Using the shoreline at the south end of the park, the emergency crews carried 1,000 feet of containment booms down to the river, which were then linked together to form three long sections. The first segment was towed in a boat to an anchor position near the middle of the river and two other long segments were then added to create the 1,000-foot barrier needed to divert spilled oil. Each section of boom, made of tough PVC rubber material, has a ballast chain running through the bottom to keep it floating upright. Containment booms work because light oil (the type that gets pumped to the Tidewater Midstream refinery in Prince George) is less dense than water and floats on the surface.
Ropes anchored along the shore were then attached to the boom and workers cinched in the ropes until the desired angle was achieved to funnel the mock oil spill to the shore to a weir-type oil skimmer that also floats. The skimmer separates the oil from the water and diverts it to a valve that would then be hooked to a vacuum line to pump the oil to holding tanks on the shore.
The B.C. Oil and Gas Commission requires pipeline companies to conduct regular emergency training sessions. Working with primary response personnel from Swat Consulting Inc., of Drayton Valley, Alta., last week’s simulation was co-ordinated by Sandhurst Consulting, one of 27 Sandhurst has conducted for Pembina Pipelines in North America this year, working in all weather conditions.
Had it been a wintertime simulation, containment crews would have been on the Fraser River ice cutting slits to gain access to the water at various points in the area downstream from the spill and multiple skimmers are set on top of the ice to recover the oil and pump it into tanks.
“Frigid temperatures add to the safety aspect and it’s more labour intensive during the winter,” said Philip Poole, an emergency management associate for Sandhurst. “Every individual on the ice is hooked to a buddy with carabiners and a line in case they fall in.”
Poole was called to Prince George after the Enbridge pipeline blowout and fire on Oct. 9, 2018, on the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation reserve near Shelley. Pembina’s 12-inch secondary line runs congruently with the 36-inch Enbridge line that ruptured and it had to be drained before crews could repair the damaged Enbridge line.
