The oil industry and rural Saskatchewan can get along.
Really, they have no choice.
Next to agriculture, oil is now the biggest player in the rural economy.
Oil is also key to the success of the overall Saskatchewan economy and key to dealing with the budgetary mess that saw increased taxes and service cuts in the 2017-18 budget.
But that doesn’t mean the oil industry should get any special considerations when it comes public health, safety and the environment.
The oil industry must comply with federal and provincial laws and regulations.
This in no way should mean restrictions preventing the industry from doing its job.
There will always be points of contention — especially on the environmental front.
That may even mean putting in perspective the number of ducks who inadvertently die after landing on a oilsands sludge pond versus the numbers that die every year flying into wind turbines. (After all, the greatest killer of birds is your front picture window.)
But when it comes the most serious environmental concerns that relate to the health, safety well-being of Saskatchewan people, there can be no compromise for any business or industry.
Unfortunately, the Saskatchewan Party has made a habit of allowing the industry to both dictate its own rules and even police itself.
This is the findings of a large-scale investigative report jointly conducted by the Toronto Star newspaper, Global TV and several journalism schools (including the University of Regina’s) into dangers posed by hydrogen sulphide (H2S) prevalent in the oil sector.
High doses of H2S can be deadly — especially in confined spaces. In 2014, the Village of Torquay was fined by more than $40,000 for a workplace fatality when a worker was exposed to the deadly sour gas.
The release of H2S sour gas is an occasional reality in the open spaces of the oilpatch. Usually, this happens with little or no consequences.
But as demonstrated by this investigative news piece, there are times when the consequences can be lethal.
The recent newspaper story noted that in October 2012, a teenager in the Oxbow area was left “gasping for breath” after suffering from H2S levels reading more than 100 parts per million.
Also, 38-year-old oil and gas chemical salesman Michael Bunz’s died in 2014 as a result of being exposed to H2S gas in the course of his job.
That you likely haven’t heard of these incidents is as puzzling as it is troubling.
After all, this is a government that has clearly taken occupational health and safety seriously — even if it has meant haranguing and embarrassing its normally supportive business base.
Almost every week, we see government press releases on convictions for OH&S violations that often involve businesses like small, local roofing companies.
Your television set is filled with ads for the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) Mission Zero program that aims to prevent “all injuries — on and off the job” in “working toward zero injuries, zero fatalities, zero suffering.”
We see SaskPower ads asking linemen to come home safe each night, highways ministry ads reminding us to slow to 60 km/h in orange zones and the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) ads reminding us of the dangers of drunk driving.
What we don’t see much of is a government willing to alter its position that it’s okay for the Economy Minister and the industry itself is doing is own policing on pipeline inspections or gas releases.
And according to the investigative report by the Toronto Star, this has very much produced performance by oil and gas companies, “including serious infractions, failed safety audits and daily H2S readings beyond provincial air quality standards.”
It would seem to strongly suggest the Sask. Party government has to take a very different approach to the oil industry.
Murray Mandryk has been covering provincial politics for over 22 years.
