In northern Alberta, drones are improving response and recovery efforts for St. Paul SAR and Cold Lake SAR
Each of Enbridge’s emergency management programs is specifically tailored to address the hazards and risks associated with that business unit’s specific operations. Emergency management programs build on the risk management processes that are applicable to their operations and are embedded in the protection programs. The risk management processes are applied throughout the asset life cycle to make decisions that influence design, construction, operation and decommissioning. Stakeholders have an important role to play throughout the asset life cycle. Input received during stakeholder liaison is considered in assessing hazards and risks.
Enbridge’s hazard and risk management process is integral to ensuring that hazards and risks are identified and managed effectively in order to protect the public, workers, the environment, and the organization. This process encompasses hazard and risk identification, analysis, evaluation, treatment, monitoring and review, and communication and consultation.
When modeling the risk of a pipeline or facility release, Enbridge calculates the likelihood of a release resulting from corrosion, cracking, geohazards, mechanical damage, incorrect operations, and theft and sabotage. The likelihood of each of these hazards is combined with the potential consequences to people, the environment, and business to determine the unmitigated risk. Next, the effectiveness of the prevention, detection and mitigation measures is assessed to determine the mitigated risk of the facility or pipeline.
This assessment requires a large number of inputs which are collected from physical inspections, field level observations, governmental sources, public consultation, and industry expertise. Examples of inputs include:
Through this approach, Enbridge is able to estimate risk for all locations near facilities and along the pipeline system, accounting for changes in pipeline and environmental characteristics, as well as the presence of preventative and mitigative measures. The results of this assessment help to highlight areas of heightened risk and to guide decision making in regards to the implementation of additional treatment or mitigation that may be required.
In northern Alberta, drones are improving response and recovery efforts for St. Paul SAR and Cold Lake SAR
Enbridge’s risk management approach reduces the probability of incidents and their potential consequences. As with any infrastructure it is not possible to eliminate all risks. To manage potential risks associated with the proximity of people to our infrastructure, Enbridge has protection programs in place that meet or exceed regulatory requirements. We extensively monitor and maintain our infrastructure and we have robust emergency response systems to protect people and the environment and reduce the consequences of an incident.
Our pipelines traverse large distances that include water bodies and watercourses, and so pipeline releases pose risks to water (both ground water and surface water), as well as to fisheries and wetlands. Given the potential consequences of liquid hydrocarbon releases, we address water protection as a priority in our management systems and processes, including our public safety and environmental incident risk treatments. We also address the concerns raised by stakeholders (including customers, local communities, environmental groups, water users, regulators, water management authorities and suppliers) and by Indigenous groups. By working with these individuals and groups to understand their concerns, we can incorporate more effective treatment measures into our project management and operations.
Based on the products that we carry and the geography of our infrastructure, the primary hazards of interest to the emergency management programs are those that could:
The top operational risks that our emergency management programs must consider, include:
In general, the risk assessment process, including development of treatment measures, involves:
The above risk assessments and applicable regulations help define the:
Decision-making processes for response strategies, clean-up and remediation are discussed in the individual emergency response plans.
Each of the emergency response plans is based on planning standards which may be set by regulations and industry guidelines, or influenced by the risk assessment process. The planning standards outline the desired outcomes on which we build our emergency programs. Examples of applicable planning standards are: response time, oil containment and recovery capacities. We use planning standards during pre-planning to pre-identify and appropriately pre-position resources (people and equipment) before an incident occurs. Response times may vary, due to remote access and extreme road and weather conditions.
In terms of oil spill response equipment (which is applicable to liquids releases) Enbridge maintains its own equipment and is also involved in equipment cooperatives and mutual aid agreements. Equipment lists for each area of operation are included within the individual emergency response plans. Enbridge’s internal resources handle the initial stages of a response at a local level and may, depending on the incident, mobilize additional resources, if necessary, to effectively respond to an incident.
Click on the links below to read more about the key elements that Enbridge employs to ensure its stakeholders and the environment are protected: