A History of Oil Spills on Long-Distance Pipelines in Canada

Abstract

Leaks and spills have been endemic on long-distance oil pipelines in Canada since the mid-twentieth century. Evidence from the National Energy Board (neb) pipeline incident reports reveals a track record of thousands of spills totalling millions of litres of oil across the country. What causes onshore oil spills? Why do they occur? Where have they occurred? What have been the environmental consequences of these incidents? This article explores the history of onshore oil spills on federally regulated long-distance pipelines since the mid-twentieth century. It argues that oil pipeline spills are an endemic characteristic of complex enviro-technical systems built primarily for economic efficiency rather than environmental protection. Based on the analysis of incident reports submitted to the neb, the article finds that, while frequent, onshore oil spills in Canada have been variable in scale and have had a wide range of potential adverse environmental effects, depending on location, product type, and volume. The causes of such spills have also been variable, conforming to no obvious pattern over time. Instead, oil pipeline spills have occurred most often in an unpredictable fashion, posing great challenges for policy development. These spills have also represented a proportionally small fraction of the total oil delivered on Canada’s long-distance pipelines, but, in absolute terms, this has meant the uncontrolled release of many millions of litres of oil into the environment.