Erosion and Sediment Control Issues on B.C. Pipeline Build Result in $346K Fine for Coastal GasLink

Coastal GasLink (CGL) has been fined $346,000 in total for erosion and sediment control issues in pipeline construction and for providing false information in inspection records.

Coastal GasLink is a 670-kilometre pipeline that runs across northern British Columbia and will transport natural gas across the province to Canada’s LNG processing and export facility in Kitimat, about 206 kilometers east of Prince Rupert, on the northwest coast of the province.

In a news release issued Thursday, British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) said these fines are due to “repeated non-compliance” with environmental requirements by Coastal GasLink, which is owned by TC Energy Corp, based in Calgary.

A $340,000 fine was issued for “deficiencies in erosion and sediment control measures” that were determined during an inspection in April and May 2022.

Those inspections were conducted before Coastal GasLink signed a compliance agreement, which requires the company to ensure erosion and sediment control measures are incorporated into its construction plans.

This follows three previous penalties totaling more than $450,000 for the same violation over the past year and a half.

In a statement Thursday, Coastal GasLink wrote that they took “immediate and decisive action” to address sediment and erosion control concerns at the time.

The second fine of $6,000 was issued for “providing false and misleading information” in connection with maintenance inspection records in October 2022.

Coastal GasLink said this was an inadvertent error due to a “discrepancy in the contractor’s administrative record.”

“This is an inadvertent and regrettable error, which we are working with the EAO to correct,” reads the company’s statement.

Since construction of the pipeline across northern British Columbia began in 2019, the EAO says it has issued more than $800,000 in fines, 59 warnings and 30 orders, including 13 stop work orders.

“Recent inspections show that CGL has been improving its erosion management and sediment control under the supervision of the EAO, although the wet weather in the spring of 2023 caused significant problems,” the EAO wrote in its press release from the Thursday.

Coastal GasLink said the project is currently more than 94 percent complete and is on track to be completed by the end of this year.