N.L. offshore oil regulator changes tack, says spill plans censored in error

FILE--The semi-submersible oil rig Eirik Raude sits anchored in Halifax harbour on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2003. The rig recently finished drilling off the Nova Scotia coast and will soon head to the Flemish pass to drill in the deep water off Newfoundland and L

Sue Bailey, The Canadian Press

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Oil spill response plans for Newfoundland were mistakenly censored as overstretched managers grappled with the Gulf of Mexico disaster, says the head of the board that regulates offshore activity in the province.

"Basically we're just correcting an error," Max Ruelokke, head of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, said Thursday of a move to release oil spill plans "in the interest of the public's right to know."

Critics assailed the board for initially answering media access-to-information requests with redacted documents. Details on who would manage a major oil spill response were blacked out along with trajectory models on where a slick might spread.

Ruelokke blamed the censorship gaffe on extra pressure and scrutiny since an April 20 BP blowout in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers and unleashed the worst oil spill disaster in U.S. history.

"I think it's fair to say we're spread pretty thin in terms of management resources — and continue to be with respect to what's happened in the Gulf of Mexico," he said.

"This places incredible demands on us and, of course, our daily responsibilities are all about making sure the six facilities we have in our offshore area are operated safely and with due care to the environment. Had senior management perhaps been more involved in the redaction process of the access-to-information responses, we probably wouldn't have done that. But we did and we've corrected it immediately."

A board that used to get three or fewer access-to-information requests a year is receiving far more now, Ruelokke said.

Details on oil spill response management and projected oil slick movements will now be released upon request, the board announced Thursday.

The Canadian Press asked for the uncensored versions and received an email Thursday saying: "We are reviewing your request and will be in touch within 48 hours."

Public concern about offshore drilling has soared since oil started gushing into the Gulf as repeated attempts to contain it failed. BP's leaking well spewed up to 700 million litres of crude into the water, fouling beaches and delicate wetlands, before it was temporarily capped earlier this month.

Despite the technological limits of stemming the catastrophe, Chevron is drilling Canada's deepest exploration well off Newfoundland that will reach 2,600 metres. The Lona O-55 well in the Orphan Basin is 1,100 metres deeper than the BP well in the Gulf. It's also located in much rougher North Atlantic conditions known for their volatility.

Provincial NDP Leader Lorraine Michael has repeatedly called for a halt to the drilling until more is learned about the Gulf incident.

She wonders whether the board's about-face on oil spill response plans would have happened without public pressure.

"It definitely is in the public's right to know. What shocks me is that they thought at some point that it wasn't."

An overly secretive, bureaucratic response to what should be shared information is "a mindset that has to be broken," Michael said in an interview.

"Certainly our provincial government is known to be redacting quite a bit of material when (it's) requested. So it's a culture that's out there in the bureaucracies and it may be in some corporations more than others, but it definitely is a mindset."

It's another reason why the board should not have the dual role of developing offshore resources while also protecting workers and the environment, Michael stressed.

"If we did have an agency separate from the (board) that was dealing with health, safety and environmental issues such as they have in Norway, this is exactly the kind of thing that that agency would have said right from the beginning is information that the public must have."

Ruelokke said safety reviews have been stepped up for the Chevron deepwater project.

"I think the public should take some comfort in the fact that the regulator, in this case ourselves, pays much closer attention to this particular well than we have to the wells in the past," he said. "We've put additional oversight into place which is active on a daily basis."

John Downton, a spokesman for Terra Nova oilfield operator Suncor Energy, said the company never objected to the release of the details that were censored.

"I think we do endeavour to be transparent and we've always been clear that we have detailed, comprehensive plans. We follow them and they're kept up to date.

"This may be another level of transparency and we're fine with that."

Michael counters that all the planning in the world is worth little if the worst happens and blowout technology fails.

"Surely what is obvious from the Gulf is the fact that nobody really knew what game plan they had."