(Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

PIPELINE SPILL SIMULATION

Trans Mountain holds wintertime simulation of pipeline rupture response

Feb 12, 2020 | 4:10 PM

KAMLOOPS — Trans Mountain pipeline ruptures have not been common in Kamloops, but today more than 200 personnel were practicing, and learning what would happen if a spill occurred in the local area.

Participants and observers were spread out between a field response exercise and a simulation of what an off-site Incident Command Post would be doing in the event of a spill.

Trans Mountain’s Director of Emergency Management, Kelly Malinoski, says the training exercise at Inks Lake was based around a simulated, full-bore pipeline rupture on the route that passes by Jacko Lake. (Due to access constraints at Jacko Lake, the simulation was moved to nearby Inks Lake instead.)

“They’ll open up a section of the lake today — probably about 20 metres, in about a metre and a half wide, which would allow them to have the oil come along the bottom of the ice,” she explained. “It would pop up to where the water is free, and then they can put a skimmer in there, and recover from that area.”

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The wintertime simulation considers cold weather safety, how the oil will spread in a frozen setting, and how to access the site.

“In the summertime, we’re dealing more with open flowing bodies of water,” she says. “So we would be using booms, and boats, and other things to get out there.”

Should a spill occur, Malinoski says Trans Mountain crews would be ready to go with full response equipment within two hours.

Malinoski notes that in the wintertime, oil would spread slower through icy conditions. So for the Jacko Lake scenario, she says they’d have about 24 hours until it leaked out of the lake and into nearby Peterson Creek.

In this scenario, the ‘spill’ occurred within City of Kamloops jurisdiction, so in a real incident, the City’s Emergency Program Coordinator, Dan Sutherland says Kamloops Fire Rescue would likely be first on scene.

“Get some eyes on, and through all the processes and plans that we have, we’d immediately notify Trans Mountain, and be taking the appropriate action. Setting up an Incident Command Post, as well as activating our City of Kamloops Emergency Operations Centre.”

Along with city land, the Trans Mountain pipeline spans over 250 kilometres within the TNRD. But regardless of which jurisdiction a spill occurred in, Sutherland notes that the coordinated response would involve many parties.

“Very collaborative effort between the City of Kamloops, Thompson-Nicola Regional District as well, SSN (Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation), as well as Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc,” says Sutherland. “It’s just been a very positive exercise to make sure the citizens of Kamloops are safe.”

The Inks Lake practice run is one of the more than 20 emergency response exercises held by Trans Mountain each year — all overseen by the Canada Energy Regulator. Kent Lien, CER’s Technical Leader of Emergency Management, says they have a dual role with these exercises: to participate and evaluate.

“It is our job to make sure that Trans Mountain is implementing its plans appropriately, and if we identify deficiencies in them, then we follow up on those deficiencies.”

To date, there have been 10 spills documented in and around the Kamloops area since 1962, along with one in 2018 at the Darfield pump station near Barriere. The majority of which occurred at pump stations, tank farms or terminal facilities. (Click here to access spill documentation information.)

Trans Mountain adds pipeline ruptures are uncommon, but these simulations are designed to give communities a solid response plan in the event of a worst case scenario.