Measures and Standards: Key Indicators
2023-24 Highlights
Looking Ahead
Our Approach to ESG
President’s Message
About SaskEnergy
Environment
Prosperity
Our People
Governance
Updates to our Environmental Protection Standards manual In alignment with environmental compliance requirements, SaskEnergy updated our Environmental Protection Standards manual for employees, contractors and regulators. Numerous additions and benefits were realized through the completion of the update, including: · The creation of activity-based best management practices documents, outlining environmental standards and requirements based on disturbance level, such that it is easier for staff to identify whether an environmental mitigation measure applies to the activity they are completing. · New sections related to air quality, waste management, and updated biosecurity protocols. · The manual can be used to display, to our regulators, the environmental protection we commit to during each of our projects. Returning the land to its original state Once our construction projects are complete, we strive to return the land to its original — or to a better — state. SaskEnergy’s reclamation inspection program involves checking and addressing crop and vegetation re-growth, as well as slumping and weed issues, on recently constructed gas lines and areas of legacy reclamation concerns. In 2023-24, we inspected 70 kilometres of gas line routes and identified 66 issues that required attention, mostly related to vegetation, including weed management and vegetation re-establishment. Of these issues, 84 per cent were resolved. Due to weather or other constraints outside of our control, not all issues can be resolved during the same year they took place; however, SaskEnergy has plans to address all land or water-related issues that arise.
Mitigating and addressing spills and releases As part of regulatory reporting requirements, and our efforts to reduce and mitigate spills and releases, SaskEnergy has processes in place to track any liquid spills, mud releases, and natural gas releases that occur during our operations. Even when following proper protocols, spills and releases can still happen, so it is important that we have procedures in place to address them, including investigating, reporting, and cleaning them up as quickly as possible to minimize their impact to the environment. SaskEnergy experienced five reportable spills and releases during 2023-24 — four inadvertent mud releases and one natural gas release into a waterbody. Drilling mud is a product of horizontal directional drilling activity, which is used to route our gas lines under obstacles or environmentally sensitive areas such as roads, train tracks or wetlands. Occasionally, underground conditions result in drilling mud making its way to the surface. For each of the mud releases in 2023-24, there was no environmental impact due to the nature of the drilling mud, which was composed of water and bentonite — an inert swelling clay. After time, the mud settles at the bottom of the waterbody. The natural gas release that occurred was the result of a leak from a gas line into a waterbody. When the leak was identified, the gas was shut off and a new line was installed.
2023-24 ESG Report
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