Canadian Natural Resources says pipeline spilled 60,000 litres of crude
CBC News | Posted: November 30, 2014 9:36 PM | Last Updated: November 30, 2014
Company says no impact to wildlife, cleanup underway
Canadian Natural Resources Limited has reported close to 60,000 litres of crude oil has spilled into muskeg in Red Earth Creek in northern Alberta.
The Alberta Energy Regulator said it learned about the spill Thursday from an incident report filed by the Calgary-based company. That report said the pipeline, 27 kilometres north of Red Earth Creek, experienced a mechanical failure.
The report said wildlife is not affected and a cleanup is underway.
Red Earth Creek is more than 350 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
“We have reports from CNRL there are no impacts to the public or wildlife at this time, but in terms of the impact to the landscape we’ll know once we get there,” said Carrie Rosa, a spokesperson with AER.
Rosa said officials have been delayed reaching the scene due to poor weather in the last few days, adding she couldn’t confirm the volume of the spill because investigators have not yet arrived at the site.
No one from Canadian Natural Resources was available for an interview Sunday.
In April, another pipeline owned by Canadian Natural Resources spilled 70 thousand litres of oil and processed water northwest of Slave Lake, Alta.