Debris left in streams cost firms $113,000

COMMENT: What's more remarkable about this news item? Is it that the companies were guilty of the "unauthorized changes to a stream, that the companies were caught, or that the companies were fined?

OGRII, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Improvement Initiative, is all about after-the fact "results-based" regulation and oversight, and self-monitoring. But in this case, it took an inspector from the Oil and Gas Commission to catch the problem.

It will always take inspectors to nail the offenders. When was the last time you reported yourself for speeding?

Linda Nguyen
Vancouver Sun
December 20, 2007

Two international oil and gas companies have been fined $113,000 after a 2006 investigation revealed that debris was being dumped into streams in a remote area of northern B.C.

Anadarko Canada Corp. and Norcana Resource Services pleaded guilty on Dec. 10 in Fort Nelson Provincial Court to one count of making "unauthorized changes to a stream," said Shawn Brinsky, an officer with the B.C. Conservation Service, on Wednesday.

The charges stemmed from January 2004 when the two companies were in a bush area about 100 kilometres southeast of Fort Nelson.

They were on a seismic exploration program approved by the B.C. Ministry of Environment to grid the area with soundwaves to determine its potential for oil and gas drilling, Brinsky said.
The provincial permit allowed them to use clean snow to build temporary stream crossings during the program, but by late February 2004, an investigator with the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission reported coming across debris, soil and wood in the streams.

Anadarko and Norcana were working on the project that encompassed an area with almost 1,000 streams, many connected with large watersheds like the Adsett Creek, Jackknife Creek and the Prophet River.

The waterways were also home to grayling and bull trout, the Ministry of Environment said.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007