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Review of Offshore Oil-Spill Prevention and Remediation Requirements and Practices in Newfoundland and Labrador

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Review of Offshore Oil-Spill Prevention and Remediation Requirements and Practices in Newfoundland and Labrador Review of Offshore Oil-spill Prevention and Remediation Requirements and Practices in Newfoundland and Labrador Appendix Documents December 2010 Client: Primary Author: Department of Natural Resources Captain Mark Turner Government of Newfoundland and Labrador P.O. Box 5367 P.O. Box 8700 St. John’s, NL St. John’s, NL A1C 5W2 A1B 4J6 [email protected] List of Appendices Appendix I Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Oil-spill Prevention and Remediation Requirements and Practices in Newfoundland and Labrador Appendix II Physical Environment of Newfoundland and Labrador and Comparisons to Selected Jurisdictions Appendix III Physical Environment of Comparable Jurisdictions - the North Sea and Norwegian Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and Australia Appendix IV General Information Concerning Oil-spill Prevention Appendix V Background on the Regulatory Regime for Subsea Well-control and Oil-spill Readiness and Response Appendix VI Statement by Max Ruelokke P.Eng, Chair and CEO, C-NLOPB (Made to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources on May 25, 2010) Appendix VII Subsea Well-control for Drilling Operations and Oil-spill Readiness (Prepared by the C-NLOPB as a Technical Briefing for Media on June 2, 2010) Appendix VIII Regulatory Environment, Batch-spill Sources and Facility Spill Prevention (Prepared by Hibernia Management and Development Company and presented to Mark Turner and Justin Skinner on June 25, 2010) Appendix IX Spill Prevention - Well Design, Well-control and Drilling (Prepared by Husky Energy and presented to Mark Turner and Justin Skinner on June 25, 2010) Appendix X Oil-spill Preparedness and Response Overview (Prepared by Suncor Energy and presented to Mark Turner and Justin Skinner on June 25, 2010) Appendix XI ECRC-SIMEC Overview (Prepared by ECRC in June, 2010) Appendix XII David Pryce Presentation to House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources (Prepared by CAPP and presented on May 13, 2010) 1 Appendix XIII David Pryce Presentation to Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources (Prepared by CAPP and presented on June 22, 2010) Appendix XIV U.S. Congressional Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations letter to Tony Hayward, Chief Executive Officer of BP (Dated June 14, 2010) Appendix XV Spill Related Properties of Newfoundland and Labrador Crude Oils Appendix XVI Recommendations from the U.S. Department of the Interior Report on Increased Safety Measures for Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf (May 2010) Appendix XVII Compensation Claim Form and Instructions (per the C-NLOPB and C-NSOPB) Appendix XVIII Portion of the Standing Senate Committee Report on Offshore Drilling Operations - Executive Summary and Recommendations (Released August, 2010) 2 Review of Offshore Oil-spill Prevention and Remediation Requirements and Practices in Newfoundland and Labrador December 2010 Appendix I Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Oil-spill Prevention and Remediation Requirements and Practices in Newfoundland and Labrador Appendix I - Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Oil-spill Prevention and Remediation Requirements and Practices in Newfoundland and Labrador 1 Who is responsible for responding to oil-spills off Newfoundland’s coast? ................................... 3 2 Does CCG have adequate response equipment to deal with a large offshore spill? ........................ 3 3 Is Canada strengthening its offshore enforcement capability? ........................................................ 3 4 Does Government and industry provide oil-spill training to the public/fisherpersons? .................. 4 5 Does the Coast Guard practice port state control in Placentia Bay? ................................................ 4 6 Who pays for oil-spill response off Newfoundland and Labrador? ................................................. 4 7 What would happen if a large oil-spill occurred offshore Newfoundland and Labrador and we didn’t have enough response resources? .......................................................................................... 5 8 What systems are in place to prevent or properly address a large catastrophic oil-spill? ................ 5 9 How many oil tankers are there in Canadian waters each year and where can most of them be found? .............................................................................................................................................. 6 10 Should Canada establish a marine protected area under the Marine Environmental Protection Committee? ...................................................................................................................................... 6 11 How does Canada deter marine polluters? ....................................................................................... 6 12 Does Canada enforce the use of automated identification systems (AIS)?...................................... 6 13 Should Canada reward those who file pollution reports leading to conviction? .............................. 7 14 Why is Newfoundland and Labrador so important to Canada’s oil and gas industry? .................... 7 15 Why is the offshore oil and gas industry important to Canada? ...................................................... 7 16 What impact has Hibernia, Terra Nova and White Rose had on Newfoundland and Labrador? .... 8 17 How do local communities benefit from the offshore industry? ...................................................... 8 18 What is the C-NLOPB? ................................................................................................................... 8 19 How is the environment protected during offshore exploration and production?............................ 9 20 How are health and safety protected in the offshore industry? ...................................................... 10 1 21 When did drilling for oil and gas begin in Newfoundland and Labrador? .................................... 10 22 What response mechanisms are available to Atlantic Canada operators? ..................................... 10 23 What is a blowout?......................................................................................................................... 11 24 What is a blowout preventer? ........................................................................................................ 11 25 What is a relief-well? ..................................................................................................................... 11 26 What is the regulatory process for drilling programs offshore Newfoundland? ............................ 11 27 If a spill did occur offshore Newfoundland, how likely would it be for the spill to reach our shores? ........................................................................................................................................... 13 28 How is the C-NLOPB addressing the Lona O-55 deepwater well offshore Newfoundland? ........ 14 29 Has the Board taken extra precautions in light of the Macondo accident? .................................... 14 30 Should Newfoundland and Labrador have imposed a deepwater drilling moratorium in the wake of the Macondo accident? .............................................................................................................. 16 31 How does the C-NLOPB differ from the Minerals Management Service (MMS) in the United States? ............................................................................................................................................ 16 32 Where are we in relation to green, renewable energy? .................................................................. 17 33 Where do most oil-spills happen in the world? .............................................................................. 18 34 Do most oil-spills originate from tankers? ..................................................................................... 19 35 It appears the response operation in the Gulf of Mexico was, at times, inadequate. How does Canada’s response regime differ from that of the U.S. Coast Guard? ........................................... 19 36 Is there independent monitoring of accidental spills or discharges from loading and offloading platforms, offshore installations etc.? ............................................................................................ 20 37 Is there adequate tug-boat support situated in Placentia Bay to respond and control a VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) if it loses control or becomes grounded? ..................................................... 20 38 If there is an oil-spill, who is in charge? ........................................................................................ 21 2 1 Who is responsible for responding to oil-spills off Newfoundland’s coast? Whereas Transport Canada is the lead federal agency for Canada’s Marine Oil-spill Preparedness & Response Regime, Fisheries & Oceans Canada, namely the Canadian Coast Guard, is responsible for managing responses to ship-source oil-spills and for ensuring that the response is appropriate. Certain vessels and oil-handling facilities are required to have emergency plans and to implement these plans in the event of a spill. The Canadian Coast Guard provides a national preparedness capacity and manages the National Response Team and ensures an appropriate response to marine pollution incidents as the Federal Monitoring Officer or On-scene Commander (OSC). Oil-spill response at an offshore platform falls under the jurisdiction of the C-NLOPB
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