An oil spill on the Canadian Forces’ Suffield base near Medicine Hat has killed upwards of 300 birds, and the head of the company responsible for the well says he’s embarrassed by and sorry for the incident.
John Zahary, CEO and president of Harvest Energy, says one of the company’s well sites on the Suffield military base began leaking oil “some days or weeks ago.” The leak, however, wasn’t discovered until mid-day September 8. By that time, between 60 to 90 barrels of oil had seeped out, killing hundreds of birds that landed on the spill. “We are… certainly embarrassed that it’s occurred on our watch, and we’re very sorry that it has occurred,” says Zahary.
Davis Sheremata, spokesperson for the province’s Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB), says the site has been cleaned up. “They were able to vacuum up all the liquid oil that was on the site,” he says, adding that the company also removed all the contaminated soil.
The province is currently investigating the incident, along with Environment Canada. “I think all of us are interested in finding out exactly why this occurred — both for us specifically, and for the industry generally,” says Zahary. “This is the sort of stuff you don’t want happening.”
Both Sheremata and Zahary say they’re not sure yet if the company will face any penalties for the spill. “The investigation’s going to take a few weeks,” says Sheremata.
Post the first comment: (Login or Register)