Compliance verification activity type: Emergency Response Exercise
Team:
Regulated company: Whitecap Resources Inc.
Operating company: Whitecap Resources Inc.
Province(s) / Territory(s):
Discipline(s):
Rationale and scope:
As part of the CER's annual compliance planning, Whitecap was identified to verify the company's response capabilities and understanding of ICS as a result of a subsequent exercise evaluation.
Compliance tool(s) used:
Facilities:
Facility Types
Regulatory requirements that apply to this activity:
Observation 1 - Whitecap Resources Emergency Response Exercise
Date & time of visit: 2019-12-11 13:00
Discipline: Emergency Management
Categories:
Facility:
Observations:
Exercise Planning and ConductOn December 11, 2019, between 13:00 and 16:00, Whitecap conducted a table top emergency response exercise at the Boundary Lake Field Office. The scenario was a simulated oil/water emulsion release spotted on Boundary Lake near the BC/Alberta border NE of Fort St. John, BC. The initial incident reporting call was made at 13:11 from a hunter in the area, which was subsequently confirmed by Whitecap personnel to be a 10x50 m skim on the north side of the lake.A participants’ package was received from Whitecap on Friday, November 8, 2019. This identified the location of and directions to the exercise and the participant list. The scenario was also identified and included overarching objectives along with sub-objectives for each expected stage of the exercise: initial response, incident briefing, clean-up response, continued response and debriefing.Prior to commencing the exercise, the facilitator gave Canada Energy Regulator (CER), British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission (BCOGC), and Whitecap personnel a briefing on what to expect and the general rules of play. Given that the exercise was a tabletop, all personnel were located in the Boundary Lake Field Office. The tabletop was functional in nature and Whitecap personnel were separated into various locations, including: an area for the Emergency Support Team (EST) to simulate corporate involvement from the head office in Calgary, an Incident Command Post (ICP) combined with field location, and a ready room for participants to wait until they were brought into play. While the CER recognizes the value of maintaining situational accuracy in bringing participants in at their expected stages of the response, there would also be benefit for participants not in play to shadow or observe as a learning opportunity to gain a better understanding of the overall ICS structure and reinforce previous training.Exercise Objectives:The main objectives of the exercise, as identified by the Company, were established in response to comments and recommendations made in compliance verification activity 1819-502 and consisted of:
Compliance tool used: No compliance tool used
Identified non-compliances to company plans or procedures are non-compliances either to:
- the condition of an authorization document that requires the implementation of that plan or procedure; or
- the relevant section of the regulations that requires implementation of that plan or procedure including those sections that require implementation of plans or procedures as a part of a Program