Nexen pipeline leak began sometime between June 29, July 15

Alberta’s energy minister is taking a wait-and-see approach to the Nexen oil spill.

“How could we make it so this doesn’t happen again”.

The buried pipeline had not been inspected since it was installed in 2014, said Ron Bailey, Nexen’s senior vice-president of Canadian operations.

Bailey said the leak likely occurred after June 29, when the pipeline was cleaned with water.

The leak in the double-layer pipeline spilled more than 31,500 barrels of emulsion, a mixture of bitumen, water and sand, onto an area of about 16,000 square meters (172,000 square feet). “I therefore personally apologize for the consequences this might have caused”.

The pipeline’s leak detection systems failed, and it could have been leaking for weeks before the spill was detected on July 15 by a contractor walking along the line.

On Sunday, a dead duck was found at the site of the spill, but the company says it believes the animal died before it put fences, wildlife cannons and other deterrents in place.

“Our focus as of now is ensuring the safety of our workers on the site, minimizing whatever impact on the environment and on the wildlife, as well as understanding the root causes of this incident through investigations”, Zhi said. A double-walled pipe that was less than a year old broke.

On a media tour of the spill site on Wednesday, executives from Nexen, owned by China’s CNOOC Ltd, said the project was not rushed.

“It’s a relatively new technology”, said Woods.

The Nexen leak was larger than the July 2010 rupture of an Enbridge Inc pipeline that spilled an estimated 20,000 barrels of crude, with some reaching Michigan’s Kalamazoo River.

An investigation into the cause of the pipeline failure will take “significant time”, Bailey said, adding “we’re talking months”. He said the outer section of the pipe had a smaller hole than originally thought, but the company has not been able to look at the inner pipe.

“We are continuing to work with the regulator, with all of our specialists, to understand the additional appropriate steps that we can take to work on cleanup and then a longer-term plan, which is not approved yet”.

Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd says, “Absolutely, it’s concerning”.

We can only hope that proponents of the Energy East pipeline, which is slated to run through Ottawa, will take note of the five-million-litre spill near Fort McMurray, Alta., last week.

Bailey said Nexen believed the pipe-within-apipe design was safe for its “slightly unique” goal – transporting bitumen emulsion “at temperature” 10 kilometres from Kinosis to the Long Lake facility where it is upgraded.