TransCanada has undertaken emergency response training exercises related to natural gas pipelines for years. With the advent of our new 3,461-kilometre (2,151-mile) Keystone pipeline, we have simulated high priority emergency situations to ensure the same level of responsiveness with regard to oil-based crises.

The basic idea is to make sure all necessary employees are satisfactorily trained in emergency response procedures and know how to respond effectively to an incident in the unlikely event of an oil release from a pipeline.

Major simulations were conducted in Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Brandon and Winnipeg, Manitoba and Atchison, Missouri. Several regulatory agencies participated in the TransCanada exercises as observers.

One exercise was conducted on dry land, another on water at normal temperatures and a third on an ice-covered water body at minus 42 degrees Celsius. For most of our employees, the water-based exercises presented new challenges such as the deployment of oil spill containment booms in rapidly moving water. Their performance was exceptional.

"The very nature of an oil release is far more involved from a clean-up perspective," explains Randy Schmidgall, Director, Canadian Field Operation, Central Region. "It's of longer duration due to more extensive cleanup and remediation, as well as the number of response experts required."

More exercises of this sort are scheduled for the coming months.