Canaport LNG to pay fines for 2013 bird incident

Canaport LNG has agreed a settlement with the Crown for an unfortunate incident in September 2013, in which approximately 7500 birds died because of direct or indirect exposure to emissions from Canaport’s LNG flare stack. Canaport will pay fines of CAN$750 000, including CAN$600 000 in contributions to local non-profit organisations and educational groups, in order to educate people on bird migration patterns. Furthermore, Canaport has developed new systems to prevent a similar situation occurring again.

Pedro Boyra, the LNG General Manager of Canaport LNG, said: “Canaport LNG sincerely regrets the harm caused in this incident.

“This has been a difficult and regrettable matter and we accept full responsibility. Since the incident more than two years ago, we have taken significant actions to prevent such an incident from reoccurring. It is constructive to have resolution in a manner that improves understanding of migratory bird populations and promotes conservation efforts.”

Canaport has since completed a CAN$45 million upgrade in order to reduce the need to flare. In addition to this, Canaport now schedules its maintenance around the migration patterns of the birds in order to avoid another incident occurring again. Canaport has also installed a loud alarm system, which deters the birds from the site during flaring.

Edited from press release by David Rowlands

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/regasification/06112015/canaport-lng-to-pay-fines-for-2013-bird-incident-1590/