Wednesday, 31 August 2011 14:43
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| Workers clean up oil that leaked from Enbridge's Norman Wells pipeline near Wrigley, N.W.T., on May 9. The company said as many as 1,500 barrels may have leaked into the soil. ((Submitted by D'Arcy J. Moses)) |
Canada's National Energy Board approved a remediation plan for an oil spill near Wrigley, Northwest Territories, about 800 km (500 miles) northwest of territorial capital Yellowknife, where as many as 1,500 barrels of crude leaked from Enbridge’s Norman Wells pipeline in May.
The company, which filed its cleanup plan earlier in August, is required to give daily status updates and provide monthly consultation summaries.
Local hunters discovered the spill in early May in a forested area near Willowlake River. The company estimates between 700 and 1,500 barrels of oil leaked into the soil.
Enbridge has also agreed to draft information in plain language for all stakeholders and aboriginal communities. The company maintains that the spill has been contained and none of the oil has seeped into the Willowlake River.
Chief Tim Lennie of Wrigley, a small Dene community of about 100, will meet with officials from the NEB and Enbridge Wednesday afternoon to go over the remediation plans.
Enbridge has been criticized by community members for not being forthcoming about the spill and cleanup efforts. Initially the company said only four barrels of oil had leaked into the soil.
At a public meeting on Aug. 11, residents expressed frustration that Enbridge didn’t hire local workers to help clean the spill and said the company hadn’t invested in the local community.
The chief also refused $5,000 from Enbridge to help the community analyze the technical aspects of its cleanup plan, saying it wasn't enough to help the First Nation understand the 674-page document before it was sent to the National Energy Board.
At the time Enbridge’s vice-president of Canadian operations, Cynthia Hansen, said the company needed to improve its communication with Wrigley residents.
Related Links
- N.W.T. oil pipeline leak estimate grows
- Wrigley residents voice pipeline spill concerns
- No coverup in N.W.T. pipeline leak: Enbridge