Emergency Management Program
Our approach to emergency management.
The safety and protection of the public, employees, first responders, contractors, the environment and our assets are our priority.
Through our Emergency Management Program (EMP), Plains is committed to being prepared to respond to emergencies. Our Operations Policy says that “Plains commits to conducting our operations in a manner that protects people and the environment. We are committed to the safety and security of the public, our employees, and contractors; the protection and stewardship of the environment, including property; and the safety, security, and integrity of all Plains assets throughout the entire asset lifecycle including design, construction, operation, and abandonment.”
We meet this commitment by:
- Developing and maintaining our Emergency Response Plans (ERP) to address all hazards
- Conducting training and exercises with and for employees, first responders, Indigenous communities, government agencies and contractors
- Ensuring Plains has response capabilities by owning response equipment, contracting with response vendors, partnering with others through mutual aid agreements and by actively participating in spill cooperatives
- Consulting with Indigenous communities, affected stakeholders, members of the public, and first responders
Plains personnel are trained and on-call 24/7 to respond quickly and safely to emergencies. We work with first responders, including fire and police departments, communities, and regulatory agencies to prepare for and respond to emergencies.
Four Integrated Pillars of Our EMP
Our EMP is designed to:
- Meet or exceed regulatory and legal requirements, including the Canadian Energy Regulator (CER) Onshore Pipeline Regulations (OPR) and Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) Directive (D71)
- Consider all hazards when identifying and mitigating risks
- Ensure employees have emergency response training and resources, including spill response equipment and access to emergency response service providers
- Ensure emergency response efforts are coordinated and communicated with regulators, first responders, government agencies and Indigenous communities
- Use the Incident Command System to manage emergency responses
- Use lessons learned to continually improve our program
Training and Exercises
We conduct training programs and exercises annually to equip our employees to respond to an incident or emergency.
We also engage local first responders, authorities, Indigenous communities and stakeholders in exercises to practice response protocols and assess our preparedness for various scenarios under different weather and climate conditions. These scenarios are designed with an all-hazards approach, and we may deploy spill response equipment on land and/or water. These exercises help us practice and enhance our skills for responding to a product release.
Lessons learned from these training exercises allow us to continuously improve our emergency response operations.
Emergency Resources
To report an incident or emergency at a Plains facility or along our pipeline corridor, please call the appropriate number below.
