NEB issues safety order to Westcoast Energy
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Regulator calls on company to address a number of "management system failures"
CALGARY—The National Energy Board has ordered Westcoast Energy, the Canadian arm of Houston-based natural gas company, Spectra Energy, to address a number of management system failures in a safety order issued July 14.
The NEB Safety Order requires the company, which operates processing, storage and transmission facilities across Canada, to submit staffing reports for all its NEB-regulated processing plants, as well as a “comprehensive report that identifies and commits to a plan that will address its existing management system failures.”
Westcoast must also examine and address all non-compliances identified by NEB Insepction Offiers between April 2014 and July 2015.
The NEB noted that that while Westcoast has adopted a proactive approach to safety and environmental protection, “an NEB Safety Order is required to ensure continued progress toward implementation of a management system approach to safety and environmental protection.”
The NEB outlined that public safety and the protection of the environment are its top priorities. The independent federal regulator requires pipeline companies to anticipate, prevent, manage and mitigate potentially dangerous conditions associated with their pipelines. It routinely conducts inspections of regulated companies to ensure adherence to regulations.
The regulator noted enforcement action is taken when companies are found to be in non-compliance with regulations.
