Barely six months after the Husky Oil pipeline break that spilled up to 250,000 litres of heavy oil off the banks of the North Saskatchewan River last July, another Sask. pipeline leak was found on Jan 20th, spilling 200,000 litres of crude oil onto First Nations land used for agriculture, northeast of Weyburn.
The oil leaking, from the Tundra Energy Marketing pipeline, was contained within a “low-lying area with a frozen slough” where the leak was discovered and oil is not entering any creeks or streams, says the company.
The provincial government has told reporters that the source of the leak is still yet unknown, saying there are several pipelines in the area and they still need to confirm which one broke.
“It could happen anywhere. Sadly, it happened on Ocean Man First Nation,” Jeff Yanko, public affairs spokesman for Tundra told CBC.
The land where the pipeline breach is owned by the by the Ocean Man First Nation. While Chief Connie BigEagle of the Ocean Man First Nation has been at the site and has kept informed on the situation, BigEagle told reporters that he was sick and angry when he first discovered the black pool of oil on his land.
Pipeline owner, Tundra Energy Marketing are taking charge of the cleanup efforts and as of Jan 23rd approximately nearly 173,000 litres of surface oil has been removed.
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