Clean up continues at Rainbow pipeline

Clean up continues at Rainbow pipeline

Plains Midstream Canada continues to work on the contaminated site on land in the traditional Lubicon Lake Cree territory. Work has been ongoing for 22 weeks with over 200,000 work hours logged. In remediated areas where oil contamination has been removed, including the pond shorelines and along beaver runs, native species of vegetation, grasses and small shrubs have begun to return. Clean organic materials previously collected from the pond areas are being placed back to encourage wildlife habitat and vegetation re-growth. Soil remediation is taking place on-site to reduce the number of truck trips required to haul soil to approved waste disposal facilities. On Aug. 26, the ERCB gave Plains approval to begin operating Rainbow pipeline, which ruptured and spilled a record-setting 28,000 barrels of light, sweet crude oil four months earlier.