Husky could be fined $1M per day for Saskatchewan oil spill

Government's timeline of the spill:

• Based on an analysis of the operating data, the investigators have concluded that the leak began on July 20, the day before the discovery of the spill.
• The pipeline's dual alarm leak detection systems were issuing notices to the operators of potential problems prior to the spill and continued until the system was shut down for scheduled maintenance at 7:15 a.m. CST on July 21.
• Husky's response to the alarms has been extensively investigated and the details concerning their reasons for not shutting down the system are being reviewed by the Ministry of Justice.
• The Government of Saskatchewan was first notified of the spill when a member of the public reported an oil slick on the river near the bridge.This call was received at approximately 8:30 a.m. on July 21.
• After obtaining additional information from the caller, two staff members from the Ministry of the Economy's field office inLloydminsterwere dispatched to the bridge at approximately 8:40 a.m. to investigate the source of the spill.They arrived on site at approximately 9:35 a.m. and confirmed there was a significant amount of oil on the river.The source of the oil was not immediately known and staff began a search of the area.
• Ministry staff also contacted Husky at 9:50 a.m. to advise it of the incident and ask if they had any knowledge of the spill.Husky confirmed that it had also received a report of oil on the river and staff were also looking for potential sources.
• At 10 a.m. Husky contacted the Ministry of the Economy to confirm the location of the incident at its crossing upstream of the bridge.
• The broader multi-agency provincial response was activated at that point with the Ministry of Environment formally assuming overall provincial lead for the response.The Ministry of the Economy staff shifted their focus to the immediate clean-up of oil on the right-of-way and the investigation of the cause of the break.