Pipeline Industry Promises to Review Disclosure Rules After Kinder Morgan Secrecy Scandal

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The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association (CEPA) is working hard to undo damage caused by pipeline company Kinder Morganโ€™s refusal to release oil spill response plans in British Columbia. The company’s lack of disclosure angered the province of B.C., especially when it was revealed that Kinder Morgan released detailed spill response plans in Washington State for portions of the pipeline that extend across theย border.

The pipeline association recently announced it would form a task force to address the issue, hoping to waylay growing public concerns by developing โ€œguiding principlesโ€ forย disclosure.

โ€œA number of our members have faced significant public pressure to disclose all information contained in emergency response plans. The CEPA task force will work to support that by establishing clear principles and guidelines that seek to find the right balance between the publicโ€™s right to know, the privacy of personal information and the security considerations also required for public safety,โ€ Jim Donihee, chief operating officer with CEPA, said.

In the case of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline, the company argues it shouldn’t disclose spill response plans โ€” even to the province of British Columbia, which has requested the plans during the National Energy Board Review of the Trans Mountain pipeline โ€” because of โ€œsafetyย concerns.โ€

DeSmog Canada first published the documents Kinder Morgan publicly released in the U.S., comparing them to similar documents severely redacted or completely withheld in B.C.

Since then, the story has been covered in the Globe and Mail, the CBC and the Canadian Press, forcing Kinder Morgan and the National Energy Board (NEB) to defend the companyโ€™s actions.

NEB spokesman Darin Barter said the board was considering making public pipeline emergency plans mandatory for energyย companies.

โ€œOur chairman is not very happy that thereโ€™s a lack of transparency around these emergency response plans,โ€ Barter said. โ€œCanadians deserve to have that information. Thereโ€™s a public will for that information. Industry needs to find a way to make thatย informationย public.โ€

In a recent letter to Enbridge, the NEB expressed concern over the companyโ€™s requirement that municipalities sign non-disclosure agreements before emergency plans areย released.

โ€œI am concerned that Enbridgeโ€™s practice of requesting NDAs is not consistent with the principle of regulatory transparency that guides the boardโ€™s regulatory approach,โ€ NEB chairman Peter Watson said in a letter, available on the NEBย website.

Watson said he would like to know how Enbridge would proceed with a municipality unwilling to sign a non-disclosureย agreement.

Despite the NEBโ€™s recent push for increased transparency, the board ruled Kinder Morgan was within its right to deny the province of British Columbia detailed spill response and emergency plans for the Trans Mountainย pipeline.

When B.C. asked the NEB to compel Kinder Morgan to release the plans, the board refused.

As DeSmog Canada reported, the plans withheld in B.C. included contact information for first responders and company officials and outlined access to oil booms, pumps, hoses and storage tanks and other supplies needed in the event of an oilย spill.

Canadian Energy Pipeline Association vice-president Pay Smyth said the group is seeking disclosure standards that will satisfy the public demand for disclosure while protecting personal information of company employees and firstย responders.

โ€œThis is by no means a PR exercise,โ€ Smyth told the Calgary Herald. โ€œWe are treading new ground here. Industry recognizes that Canadians have the right and the need to know and weโ€™re going to make sure they have access toย information.โ€

Image Credit: Jimmy Jeong, JimmyShoots.com via The Globe andย Mail

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