The Canadian Press reports that, “The potential for pipeline failure poses a threat to the Great Lakes that could have wide-ranging economic and ecological consequences, says a key international body. The International Joint Commission says lax monitoring procedures, inaccurate spill detection and poor cross-border communication and co-operation leave the system providing water for 40 million people vulnerable to spills of chemicals like crude oil.”
Pipelines within one kilometre of the Great Lakes “carry natural gas, crude oil, gas liquids, jet fuel, diesel, propane and butane.”
“(The commission’s USA chair Lana) Pollack and her Canadian counterpart Joe Comuzzi, sent a letter earlier this month to Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging them to act on a series of proposals made by the commission in a 2006 report on spills in the Great Lakes. The report offers six recommendations for both governments that would streamline management and co-operation of the shared water basin as well as improve spill detection and clarify legislation surrounding compensation for cleanup costs of major spills.”
“Pipelines crossing the border are regulated separately by section depending on the portion in each country. The National Energy Board regulates pipeline activity within Canadian borders and requires companies to have an emergency response plan in place. The Transportation and Safety Board is responsible for assessing and investigating incidents, while Environment Canada and Foreign Affairs are also involved in various aspects of pipeline management and regulation. Pipeline companies are responsible for preventing ruptures on their systems and for cleaning up any spills that occur.”
The article can be read at http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/potential-for-pipeline-failure-in-great-lakes-poses-a-threat-experts-101480534.html. The 2006 IJC report is at http://www.ijc.org/php/publications/pdf/ID1594.pdf.
Our June 4 campaign blog ‘UPDATE: Multiplicity of threats to the Great Lakes’ can be read at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3796.
Since then we have highlighted additional threats: ‘ACTION ALERT: Stop the shipment of radioactive components through the Great Lakes’ at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=4410, and ‘NEWS: Canada urged to ban oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes’ at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=4400.
