Regina – Husky Energy is scheduled to appear in Lloydminster provincial court on March 29 to face one charge under the provincial Environmental Management and Protection Act, 2010 (EMPA, 2010), as well as several other charges under federal legislation, according to a March 26 statement from Premier Scott Moe’s office.
Environment and Climate Change Canada will have detail on the nature of the federal charges in a separate release.
All charges stem from the spill of a 225,000 litres of oil from a Husky pipeline near Maidstone in July of 2016. That spill saw some of the heavy oil and diluent find its way into the North Saskatchewan River, spawning a substantial cleanup effort. Contamination was reported several hundred kilometres downstream, past Prince Albert. Several communities, including North Battleford and Prince Albert, had to take emergency measures to find alternate safe drinking water supplies until the river water was considered once again safe to drink from, several months later.
The EMPA charge alleges that Husky did “unlawfully permit the discharge of a substance to the environment that caused an adverse effect.” The maximum fine for the EMPA charge is $1,000,000.
The investigation report led by the Ministry of Energy and Resources will not be released until all prosecution processes and any appeals have been concluded, the premier’s office said, adding “As this matter is now before the courts, the Government of Saskatchewan will not be providing further comment at this time.”
