Inspection notes offer a glimpse behind the scenes of government oversight of the fossil fuel industry — and the companies doing business in B.C.

By Zak VESCERA, Matt SIMMONS

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Fewer than two dozen BC Energy Regulator inspectors are responsible for monitoring nearly 200 fossil fuel companies operating 6,594 — and counting — active oil and gas wells, pipelines, processing plants and other related infrastructure in British Columbia.

During inspections conducted between 2017 and 2023, regulator inspectors quietly noted thousands of potential violations of laws and regulations, according to records released through freedom of information legislation.

In more than 1,000 instances, inspectors documented apparent environmental infractions, such as emissions leaks, fuel and chemical spills and more, yet the sites were marked as compliant. In many cases, the inspectors noted multiple apparent infractions during one inspection. Thousands of additional inspections were similarly given a pass, despite potential violations of regulations, ranging from inaccurate record-keeping to outdated equipment to illegible and missing signage at sites. In some instances, inspectors noted longstanding issues, such as companies failing to fix problems government officials had flagged years earlier. In total, inspectors flagged more than 9,000 potential violations.

The following table contains all records of inspections that were provided through freedom of information legislation. Not all companies included in the table have had apparent infractions that were given a pass during inspection.

(The original records released through freedom of information legislation are also available here.)

The Narwhal and Investigative Journalism Foundation requested comments from 146 companies, sharing inspection reports associated with each company’s implicated infrastructure. An additional 13 companies in the records are either bankrupt or in receivership and therefore could not comment, according to publicly available information, and a further 11 were unreachable or unidentifiable from the regulator records.

Only 14 companies responded. They described having a working or “collaborative” relationship with the provincial regulator.

“AltaGas works closely with the BC Energy Regulator (BCER) across its B.C. operations.”

“At Pacific Canbriam Energy, we are committed to responsible energy development and continuous improvement in our operations. We maintain a collaborative relationship with the BC Energy Regulator (BCER), working closely to uphold the highest standards of safety, environmental stewardship and regulatory compliance.”

“… Trans Mountain welcomed regulator inspections to ensure it was meeting standards expected by regulators and [the] public. We took immediate corrective action for any deficiencies noted by our regulators to ensure the project remained in compliance.”

This table contains all company responses received by publication time.

The BC Energy Regulator — largely funded by the oil and gas industry — is a provincial agency mandated to protect public safety and the environment from infractions by energy industry stakeholders in a range of activities, including pipelines and major projects in oil, gas, fracking, liquefied natural gas, geothermal and hydrogen.

Some companies said apparent violations in inspector notes that were not marked in the regulator’s records as violations had since been corrected. One company, Catapult Environmental Inc., stressed the apparent issues were all “addressed immediately” and it did not receive any official non-compliances “due to our commitment to address this issue in a timely manner.”

The BC Energy Regulator declined an interview request and did not directly answer many questions about the apparent infractions. In an emailed response, the regulator said compliance and enforcement officers use a “graduated enforcement model” to address situations where a company is failing to meet government regulations.

The email said the regulator’s role is to provide “sound regulatory oversight” of industry and to “ensure companies comply” with provincial laws and their permit conditions.

“We do not advocate for industry or solicit economic development.”

— With files from Kate Schneider

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Original article: theijf.org