Nearly two years after after a Husky Energy oil pipeline ruptured, spilling 225,000 litres of blended heavy crude-oil just 300 metres from the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, the Calgary-based oil company and one of Canada’s largest integrated energy companies has been charged for the spill that contaminated the river and led to a state of emergency declared in Saskatchewan’s third-largest city in July 2016.
Following a 19-month joint federal-provincial investigation, Environment and Climate Change Canada on March 22, 2018 laid nine charges against Husky Energy Inc. and Husky Oil Operations, including:
- one charge under subsection 36(3) of the federal Fisheries Act,
- one charge under subsection 38(5) of the federal Fisheries Act,
- 6 charges under subsection 38(6) of the federal Fisheries Act,
- one charge under the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994,
- and one charge under Saskatchewan’s Environmental Management and Protection Act, 2010.
The Government of Saskatchewan also filed a charge under the Environmental Management and Protection Act 2010, which would result in a maximum $1-million fine.
The first court appearance is scheduled for March 29, 2018, at the Lloydminster Provincial Court office.
It’s estimated 40 per cent of the leaked crude oil made its way into the North Saskatchewan River, forcing downstream communities to shut off a main source of drinking water for almost two months.
Barely six months after the Husky Energy spill, a second Sask. pipeline leak was found on Jan 20, spilling 200,000 litres of crude oil onto First Nations land used for agriculture, northeast of Weyburn.
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