* Canada wants minimum fund of C$1 bln for major lines
* New environmental violation fines up to C$100,000
CALGARY, Alberta, June 26 (Reuters) – Companies operating
major crude oil pipelines in Canada will be required to have C$1
billion ($954.97 million) available to fund clean ups from any
spills, the Canadian government said on Wednesday.
Joe Oliver, Canada’s minister of natural resources, also
announced new fines that will soon come into force for companies
and individuals that violate environmental laws. The fines will
range from C$25,000 to a maximum of C$100,000.
Oliver was speaking in British Columbia, where the
provincial government is insisting on world-class oil-spill and
clean-up systems as one of the conditions for approving the
construction of Enbridge Inc’s contentious C$6 billion
Northern Gate way pipeline project.
“British Columbia’s government is conducting its own review
of pipeline safety, and we are working with them,” said Oliver.
“These federal measures being announced today are a major
contribution to the combined efforts of both levels of
government on this issue.”
Other measures unveiled on Wednesday included steps to
ensure that the emergency and environmental plans of companies
are publicly available and enshrining in law the “polluter pays”
principal, which is currently only implicit.
The move is the third such measure for the Canadian
government this month.
Earlier in June it raised the liability for oil spill clean
ups off the country’s east and Arctic coasts to C$1 billion from
C$30 million and the liability for nuclear-plant operators to
C$1 billion from C$75 million.
