NTSB Report: Enbridge Control Room Failure and the Kalamzoo River Spill

An excerpt from a recent report of the National Transportation Safety Board paints a picture of the surprising goings-on in the Enbridge Edmonton Control Centre while Line 6B was spewing oil into the Kalamazoo River system:

Operator B2 said he has never seen this problem before and that it was interesting. Operator B2 stated that the situation looked liked a leak, and Operator B1 stated that they could pump as much as they wanted but could never over pressurize the pipeline. Operator B2 stated that eventually the oil has to go somewhere. Operator B2 said that it seemed as if there was something wrong about the situation. Operator B2 said to Operator B1 'whatever, we're going home and will be off for few days.' Operator B1 stated they were not going to try this again, not on their shift

Andrew Nikiforuk discusses the report and its findings about Enbridge's operations in this article called: "Spill Crisis: 'Whatever, we're going home'".

What does Enbridge have to say about the report?  Enbridge suggests in a press release on its website: "Enbridge appreciates the hard work and due diligence of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) relating to the July 2010 leak.  We have been actively working with the NTSB and immediately reviewing and addressing concerns as they have been raised ... Until the final report is published, we do not intend to pre-empt those findings by commenting on specific details."

Not surprisingly, the findings of the NTSB on the failures in its control centre, which would have been known to Enbridge from the time of the 2010 leak, were not included in any of the information filed by Enbridge in support of its Line 9 Flow Reversal Project application.