B.C’s Energy Regulator has fined an oil and gas company $20,000 for leaking 4,000 cubic metres of sour natural gas from a well near Dawson Creek.
The decision, handed down to Ovintiv Canada last month but recently released, stems from an incident two years earlier when a valve at a gas well operated by the company was left in a partial open position.
Patrick Smook, the regulator’s executive director of responsible development, found that in the lead up to the incident, workers struggled to close the valve, at one point breaking off the handle.
“I am satisfied that Ovintiv failed to prevent spillage,” said Smook in his decision.
Smook wrote that the company “should have ensured all the equipment was in proper working order” and that had the company adhered to its own policies, it would have likely prevented the incident.
The company submitted it had no staff on site at the time of the gas leak.
Smook found the company also failed to inform the regulator before standing down its emergency response. Further, Ovintiv “did not promptly make notifications to area residents” and should have continued contacting people in the area in line with its emergency response plan, he said.
“Ovintiv has failed to satisfy me that it took all reasonable steps to prevent the contravention,” said Smook.
Dangerous levels gas were not detected off the well site during the 35-minute leak. While Smook said no physical harm was done to workers or local residents, he did note the incident alarmed some people in the area.
“Harm to the environment was limited to on-lease contamination of soils,” he wrote.
The well site sits east of Dawson Creek, near the B.C.-Alberta border in the Briar Ridge area.
This is the second time the company has been found in contravention B.C. regulations. According to Smook, the company has implemented measures to prevent a similar incident from happening again.
