Questions and responses 41st Parliament, 2nd session October 16, 2013, to August 2, 2015

With regard to hydrocarbon spills in Canada’s waters by commercial entities: (a) how many spills of oil, gas, petrochemical products or fossil fuels have been reported in Canada’s oceans, rivers, lakes or other waterways, broken down by year since 2006; and (b) for each reported spill in (a), identify (i) the product spilled, (ii) the volume of the spill, (iii) the location of the spill, (iv) the name of the commercial entity associated with the spill?

With regard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard: (a) have there been any reports written on the oil leak of the Manolis L. since it sank in 1985; (b) how much has the government spent on cleaning up the oil spill since 1985; and (c) has there been any study done on developing a long-term solution for the oil spill?

With respect to the drafting of the new liability provisions in Bill C-46, Pipeline Safety Act: (a) what are the names, positions, organizations or affiliations of all the stakeholders consulted leading up to the creation of this legislation; (b) what submissions, proposals or recommendations were made by stakeholders during the consultation process before the creation of this legislation; (c) other than Natural Resources Canada, what other departments were involved or consulted in the creation of this legislation; (d) what are the dates, times, and locations of the meetings with those individuals or organizations consulted before the creation of this legislation; (e) who proposed the $1 billion limit for absolute liability; (f) who proposed that this legislation apply only to pipelines with the capacity to transport at least 250 000 barrels of oil per day; and (g) what evidence was used to determine that $1 billion would be sufficient to clean up a spill?

With respect to the Manolis L. shipwreck and subsequent oil leak in the Change Islands and all events and circumstances related to this incident, what are the details of all ministerial correspondence, letters, emails, internal recommendations, internal correspondence, internal action plans, briefing notes, or other written material pertaining to this incident?

With regard to the Ship Source Oil Pollution Fund (SSOPF): (a) what actions have been funded by the SSOPF, broken down by (i) province, (ii) event site, (iii) departments involved, (iv) companies involved, (v) vessels involved, (vi) cost, (vii) details of all analysis and results, (viii) the file numbers of all departmental or ministerial briefings related to each event; and (b) what are the details of all events the fund has considered assisting, or for which the fund has been applied to, but not actually funded, broken down by (i) province, (ii) event site, (iii) departments involved, (iv) companies involved, (v) vessels involved, (vi) anticipated cost, (vii) details of all analysis and results, (viii) the file numbers of all departmental or ministerial briefings related to each event, (ix) the details of why the request to assist was declined?

With regard to government records on the Manolis L. since its construction in 1980, what are the details of documents, memos, correspondence, reports, or any other forms of information that exist, broken down by (i) department, (ii) date, (iii) file or reference numbers, (iv) type of record, (vi) purpose, (vii) title, (viii) summary, (ix) contents, (x) availability?

With regard to the Manolis L. shipwreck: (a) what activities have taken place to monitor all leakage from the shipwreck site, broken down by (i) departments involved, (ii) method, (iii) number of people involved, (iv) jobs and roles of people involved, (v) date, (vi) result, (vii) cost; (b) what activities are currently taking place to monitor all leakage from the shipwreck site, broken down by (i) departments involved, (ii) method, (iii) number of people involved, (iv) jobs and roles of people involved, (v) date, (vi) result, (vii) cost; (c) what activities are planned or anticipated to take place to monitor all leakage from the shipwreck site, broken down by (i) department involved, (ii) method, (iii) number of people involved, (iv) jobs and roles of people involved, (v) date, (vi) result, (vii) cost; (d) what activities have taken place to remediate all leakage from the shipwreck site, broken down by (i) departments involved, (ii) method, (iii) number of people involved, (iv) jobs and roles of people involved, (v) date, (vi) result, (vii) cost; (e) what activities are currently taking place to remediate all leakage from the shipwreck site, broken down by (i) departments involved, (ii) method, (iii) number of people involved, (iv) jobs and roles of people involved, (v) date, (vi) result, (vii) cost; (f) what activities are planned or anticipated to take place to remediate all leakage from the shipwreck site, broken down by (i) departments involved, (ii) method, (iii) number of people involved, (iv) jobs and roles of people involved, (v) date, (vi) result, (vii) cost; (g) what are the details of all plans that are in place by the government to prevent the shipwreck from shifting; and (h) what is the timeline to recover all oil from the ship and end this unfolding disaster?

With regard to Transport Canada and tanker vessel traffic entering Placentia Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador: (a) where is the oil-spill response equipment for Placentia Bay stored; (b) what is the oil-spill capacity of the response equipment; (c) what is the response time if an oil spill should occur; and (d) is there personnel on-call to handle an oil spill?

With regard to the Manolis L shipwreck: (a) for each cofferdam used or installed, (i) on what date was it first put in place, (ii) where on the ship was it installed, (iii) on what dates was it inspected and by what department, agency or contractor, (iv) what was the outcome of each inspection, broken down by nature or reason for inspection, outcome of inspection, costs associated with each inspection, (v) what is the plan for future inspections, replacements and removals, including anticipated dates and reasons, (vi) what material has been blocked from leaking by the installation of the cofferdam, (vii) what material has escaped around the cofferdam, (viii) what material was recovered from the vicinity of the cofferdam, broken down by type of material, date, quantity of material, disposal method, department, agency or contractors involved, (ix) what was the total cost of all cofferdams, broken down by cost of installation or removal, costs associated with removal and extraction of materials in cofferdam, required personnel, equipment or technology utilized, any other actual, planned, or anticipated costs; (b) for all other activity related to the wreck, including work by divers, remote operated vehicles, the use of neoprene gaskets, and any other specific activities related to the wreck both on and off site, what activities have taken place, are taking place, or are anticipated to take place, broken down by (i) date of activity, or anticipated date of activity, (ii) type of activity, (iii) department, agency, or contractor involved, (iv) actual, planned, and anticipated cost, (v) location of the activity, or position of the activity within the wreck site; (c) what departments, agencies, contractors, outside experts, other governments, or any other individual or organisation have been consulted by the government through this process, broken down by (i) name, (ii) date, (iii) purpose, (iv) cost; and (d) what are the details of all records, correspondence, and files, broken down by (i) relevant file or tracking numbers, (ii) correspondence or file type, (iii) subject, (iv) date, (v) purpose, (vi) origin, (vii) intended destination, (viii) other officials copied or involved?

With regard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard: has the Department done an assessment on the total cost to remove the oil from the Manolis L that sunk off the coast of Newfoundland in 1985?

With regard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Canadian Coast Guard and the Manolis L situation: (a) since March 2013, what advice has the Department received from international experts regarding the situation; (b) will a management plan be put in place; and (c) is the government prepared to access a federal clean-up fund to address the situation?

With regard to the announcement by the Minister of Transport on May 13, 2014, to strengthen world-class tanker safety systems: (a) what evidence, studies, research, discussions, advice or other methods were used to support the establishment of regional planning and resources to better respond to accidents in each of the following locations, (i) Southern British Columbia, (ii) Saint John and the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, (iii) Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, (iv) the Gulf of St. Lawrence; and (b) what evidence, studies, research, discussions, advice or other methods were used to not support the establishment of regional planning and resources to better respond to accidents in Placentia Bay and the South Coast of Newfoundland?

With regard to Environment Canada’s activities in Port au Port Bay, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador: (a) how many times have officials been sent to investigate reports of oil leaks or other pollutants; (b) when were these investigators sent; (c) what were their findings; (d) what are the titles, internal tracking numbers, and dates of all documents related to Shoal Point and Port au Port Bay generated by Environment Canada since 2011; (e) with respect to reports of oil leaks or other environmental concerns, (i) how many reports have been received by Environment Canada concerning the Port au Port Bay area, (ii) when were the reports received, (iii) what follow-up actions were taken; and (f) how many enforcement officials does Environment Canada have in the Atlantic region?

With regard to oil spills: (a) since 2011, how many full-time and part-time positions have been cut in the various Marine Communications and Traffic Services Centres, broken down by (i) centre, (ii) year; (b) what dispersants are authorised or are being considered for use in Canada; and (c) what measures have been taken to address the conclusions reached in sections 1.113 and 1.114 of the Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, published in the autumn of 2012?