Human error not to blame: Petro-Canada

Date: Nov. 26, 2004
ST. JOHN'S - Petro-Canada says a combination of factors led to the loss of about 1,000 barrels of oil Sunday from the Terra Nova production vessel.

Human error, however, was not to blame for the spill, the company said while releasing the results of its own investigation.

Petro-Canada says it is working to fix production problems at the field, and to regain the public's trust.

The Terra Nova platform

The company's investigation shows oil may have been flowing straight into the Atlantic Ocean for four hours before it was detected early Sunday morning.

However, Gordon Carrick, a Petro-Canada vice-president, doubts oil flowed that long.

A tanker was being loaded at the time, and there was a constant watch.

The spill was noticed by crew members returning from a meal break.

"[They] didn't notice anything and didn't smell anything. It was only after midnight when they came back that they smelled something and observed it on the ocean," Carrick says.

The company says two mechanical failures caused the spill:

• An oil and water separator did not work properly.
• A chemical injection system that is supposed to aid the separation process malfunctioned.

Carrick says the cause was mechanical, and that nothing points to human error.

Petro-Canada operates the Terra Nova project – the second-largest oilfield off Newfoundland, behind Hibernia – on behalf of a consortium of companies.

About 165,000 litres of oil is estimated to have been dumped into the ocean on Sunday.

On Thursday, another spill at a separate rig at Terra Nova involved as much as another 1,000 litres being lost.

Suspension order still in effect

Production at the field has been suspended, while the Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board continues its investigation of the spills.

Meanwhile, attempts to recover oil spilled at the field have been suspended.

The slick is now so thin, it is more like a sheen, says Ed Martin, a Petro-Canada manager.

Only a third of what was visible Thursday could be seen Friday, Martin says.

The slick during an observation Friday covered an area of about 12 square kilometres.

Martin estimates roughly about five per cent of the oil that was spilled has been recovered.

"We had a lot of heavy weather at the outset," Martin says.

"There was dispersion, there was breakup, there was evaporation … and that continued until the weather broke and we got right on it," Martin says.

Related CBC links:

• NOV. 25, 2004: Second oil spill at Terra Nova
• NOV. 25, 2004: Low expectations for oil cleanup

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