Hamilton second in Ontario in pipeline safety incidents

Hamilton experienced nine safety incidents on its major oil and gas pipelines in just over a decade, second in Ontario only to the 10 recorded in Sarnia.

The Hamilton cases are part of a nationwide swell in the number of safety-related incidents on pipelines regulated by the federal government, a CBC News investigation shows.

• Related: Pipeline safety incident rate doubled in past decade

National Energy Board documents obtained by CBC News under access to information laws reveal that across Canada, the rate of safety incidents on pipelines has doubled since 2000.

Interactive pipeline map:Have there beenincidents near you?

By 2011, safety-related incidents covering everything from unintentional fires to spills into creeks rose from one to two for every 1,000 kilometres of federally regulated pipeline. That reflects an increase from 45 total incidents in 2000 to 142 in 2011.

The information is contained in an NEB database with detailed information about 1,047 pipeline safety incidents from Jan. 1, 2000 until late 2012.

In recent months, a spate of oil and gas spills both from train derailments and pipelines have raised questions about which mode of transport is the safest.

Youre going to get corrosion. Youre going to get incidents. Youre going to get failures. Thank God theyre small, but it only takes one catastrophic one to change the environment completely.- GuyPaparella, director of growth planning for the city of Hamilton

The pipeline industry has touted its safety record as it seeks support for numerous controversial projects across the continent, includingTransCanadasKeystone XL to the U.S. Gulf Coast andEnbridgesNorthern Gateway to the B.C. coast, and closer to home, the Line 9 flow reversal.

In internal documents, the NEB has expressed concerns about the rising rate of incidents.

Hamilton incidents

Most of the Hamilton cases were minor, but two resulted in significant discharges of oil or gas.

In 2001, Enbridges Line 10 pipeline leaked 95,000 litres of crude oil onto a farmers field in Binbrook. And in 2010, a faulty valve on a TransCanada pipeline in Ancaster caused 100 cubic metres (or 100,000 litres) of natural gas to escape into the atmosphere.

LyndaLukasik, executive director of Environment Hamilton, a non-profit advocacy group, said shes alarmed that Hamilton nearly topped the list of safety incidents on pipelines in Ontario.

We dont have refineries, we dont have that concentrated a level of [oil industry] activities, she told CBC Hamilton. So the fact that we have that many incidents here makes me feel a bit concerned.

However, GuyPaparella, the citys director of growth planning, who also oversees a newly minted city hall task force that examines pipeline proposals, said the figures dont come as a shock given the number of pipelines that run through the area.

Based on where Hamilton is located, we have quite a number of pipelines, he said. Were at the confluence of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. And if you want to go east, west, north and south from this area with a pipeline, you have to go through Hamilton.

He said the age of Hamiltons large oil and gas pipelines may also explain the number of incidents the city has experienced.

Youre looking that stuff thats decades old 37, 38 years old, in some cases. Youre going to get corrosion. Youre going to get incidents. Youre going to get failures. Thank God theyre small, but it only takes one catastrophic one to change the environment completely.

The Line 9 Enbridge pipeline is 38yearsold.

'Industry-wide commitment'

Pipeline watchers like Pembina Institute associate Nathan Lemphers suggest the rise may be a worrisome sign of aging infrastructure.

The pipelines that are in the ground are getting older and in some cases there's more products flowing through them so you're going to see increasing incidents and increasing defects in those pipelines unless they're properly maintained, Lemphers said.

The Canadian pipeline industry is one of the very safest in the world,second to none in terms of actual results.- Brenda Kenny, president of the Canadian Energy Pipelines Association

Industry officials defend their safety records, and say they have sophisticated safeguards in place to prevent catastrophic spills and explosions, and to minimize the impact of accidents when they do occur.

Brenda Kenny, president of the Canadian Energy Pipelines Association, which represents major oil and gas companies, says theres an industry-wide commitment to get to zero incidents.

We're driving that out very hard through our risk-based management approach at the industry level that involves a lot of best practices, integrity, management, technology and these indicators, she told CBC News.

The Canadian pipeline industry is one of the very safest in the world,second to none in terms of actual results.

Line 9 controversy

The documents come to light amid contentious public debate over a new proposal put forward by energy giant Enbridge Inc. to make changes to its Line 9 pipeline, which runs through the Hamilton area.

The Edmonton-based energy giant has applied to the NEB to reverse the flow on a segment of the pipeline that runs between North Westover, a village near Hamiltons northwestern fringe, to Montreal, and also increase the amount of oil running through the pipeline to 300,000 barrels per day, up from 240,000.

• Related: Line 9 neighbours say Enbridge has been 'good' to them

The larger volume, Lukasik said, as well as the increasing number of pipeline incidents across Canada, bodes badly for the safety of the local environment.

I dont like the sounds of it, she said of the number of incidents Hamilton has seen since 2000, even if they arent major.

Add to that this desire for companies like Enbridge to run [diluted oil sands bitumen] through the lines, that just increases the level of concern even more of what we might be dealing with.

Leaks, spills triple

The NEB oversees any pipeline that crosses provincial or international borders, which includes nearly 90 companies that own about 71,000 kilometres of pipelines. The data does not include smaller pipelines monitored by provinces.

The federal regulator attributes the rise in incidents to a heightened awareness among companies about what they need to report.

Weve been out there talking with industry associations and the companies themselves to ensure that they are fully aware of what the reporting requirements are and I think thats why were seeing an increase right now, said NEBs business leader for operations, Patrick Smythe.

• Related: Analysis: Why B.C., Alberta are ending their pipeline standoff

Each company overseen by the NEB must report safety issues including the death or serious injury of a worker, fires, explosions, liquid product spills over 1,500 litres and every gas leak.

Among the other findings based on NEBs pipeline database is that theres been a three-fold increase in the rate of spills and leaks ranging from small amounts to large in the past decade.

More than four reportable releases happened for every 10,000 kilometres in 2000, or 18 incidents in total, according to NEB data. By 2011, that rate had risen to 13 per 10,000 kilometres, or 94 incidents.

Those numbers include any oil or natural gas releases companies are required to report due to laws.

NEBs Smythe says that the regulator has not seen an alarming increase in the significant, serious or major incidents over the last little while.

NEB Concerns

Recent documents published by the NEB shows the board has expressed some concern over rising numbers.

Notwithstanding the safety record of NEB-regulated pipelines, the board has noticed an increased trend in the number and severity of incidents being reported by NEB-regulated companies in recent years, one 2012 report states.

A 2011 document citing the same concern also notes the need for NEB to enhance data collection in order to tackle that problem and other troubling trends in the industry.

• Related: Quebec pulls out of NEB hearings on Enbridge pipeline

It goes on to say that a reduction in the numbers ultimately depends on actions taken by the industry.

CarlWeimer, executive director of U.S. advocacy group Pipeline Safety Trust, says small leaks may not individually be significant on their own, but taken together they provide a better picture when looking at safety trends.

It shows how really carefully they are taking care of the pipelines, saidWeimer.