The 28,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into a
wetland near Peace River will likely take years to clean up, especially
if oil soaks into the subsoil or groundwater, said a managing director
of the Pembina Institute, an Alberta-based energy and environment
think-tank.

“One big spring snow storm or rainfall and we could be
facing a large contamination issue, and that’s normal weather for that
region,” Chris Severson-Baker said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if clean up
takes more than a year or two. There will be a lot of soil and
vegetation that will be saturated with oil.”

The worst Alberta spill in 35 years happened on the Rainbow pipeline, which runs 770 kilometres from Zama to Edmonton.

The
pipeline, built in 1966, ruptured previously in 2006, when it was run
by a different company. That time, 7,840 barrels of oil leaked into a
creek south of Slave Lake.

When the Energy Resources Conservation
Board issued a report on the spill in May 2007, workers were still
trying to remove all of the contaminated soil and water.

The
company was told to reduce the pressure in the pipeline by 20 per cent
until it checked out 22 other sites identified as at risk.

It was
also told to run two inspection devices inside the length of the
pipeline to ensure there were no further weaknesses in the metal, and to
fly the length of the pipeline with an airplane twice a week to watch
for small leaks. Those conditions, applicable only on the southern
portion of the line, were lifted in March 2010, said board spokesman
Davis Sheremata. They never applied to the northern portion of the line,
where last week’s leak occurred.

Corrosion on the outside of the
pipe caused the 2006 rupture. Officials still haven’t determined what
caused this most recent break.

The portion that leaked is now
being tested by an engineering firm in Edmonton. Sheremata said it’s
important to determine if the piece of pipe broke because of the overall
integrity of the line or if it was a problem only with that particular
spot. Even if the latter was the case, the board will have to look at
the whole line to be certain it won’t fail elsewhere when it is allowed
to resume operations, he said.

Stephen Bart, vice-president of
operations for Plains Midstream, could not say how much oil was running
through the pipeline when it broke. Nor could he say whether the section
in question had ever been replaced or refurbished.

Severson-Baker
said the most recent spill highlights the need for the ERCB to take an
active role in deciding how long Alberta’s aging pipelines should
continue to operate.

“I don’t think it’s fair to say you can keep
them running forever,” he said. “This is the second time this pipeline
has had this problem. More can and should be done.”

The number of
pipeline breaks dropped 50 per cent in the last 15 years, mainly because
of new devices that run through the inside of the pipe and scan the
walls for weaknesses.

The Rainbow pipeline was scanned once a
year. When information is available on what caused the Peace River
rupture, Kenny said, the association will help its members upgrade
safety practices to take that into account.