Awareness '98

If your responsibility is to create, implement or deliver a public awareness program for buried utilities, the Robson Centre in Vancouver was the place to be on 27 March 1998. Awareness '98, the second public awareness workshop hosted and organized by the National Energy Board, began bright and early as participants began to arrive at 7:30 a.m.

Delivering a high quality workshop, and meeting the expectations of feedback from the '97 workshop are goals that were established very early in the planning process. To meet those goals, a dedicated Team was essential. Such a Team wasn't difficult to find. Stella Hiebert, Karen Befus and Franco Valle stepped forward to lend their initiative, expertise and dedication.

Seven presentations delivered by industry public awareness experts opened the floor to the sharing of ideas, exchange of best practices and created the atmosphere of a united effort to enhance public awareness programs, public safety and increase public confidence in pipelines. Many times throughout the day, we heard that "Safety is not proprietary". This was echoed by the willingness of companies to share their accomplishments and by their encouragement to "steal" ideas.

The Board opened up, too. The presentation, "Public Awareness and the Role of the Board" was designed to let company representatives know what Board staff are looking for when reviewing a program. By doing so, we hope that our role in the overall public awareness initiative is more clear and that companies will continue to work with Board Inspectors in achieving the collective goal of public safety.

These presentations are provided in the pages that follow and we have attempted to capture the essence of the questions and dialogue that followed some of the presentations. To ensure accuracy, the text was submitted to each respective presenter for approval prior to printing of this document.

For those who create, implement and assess awareness programs, dedication is an essential trait. The audience is ever-changing and, therefore, the task is never complete. We hope we have mirrored this dedication with the Awareness '98 workshop.

Mike Sullivan
Project Leader, Awareness '98 Workshop

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada 1998
as represented by the National Energy Board
Cat. No. NE23-73/1998
ISBN 0-662-63999-5

Copies are available on request from:

publications@neb-one.gc.ca
National Energy Board
444 Seventh Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta
T2P 0X8
Telephone: 403-292-3562
Telecopier: 403-292-5576

For pick-up at the NEB office:

Library
Ground Floor
Printed in Canada

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Evolving a Public Awareness Program
Gary Davis - TransCanada Pipelines Limited

Edmonton Area Pipeline and Utility Operators' Committee
- A Model for Your Community Bruce Wilson

Keeping In Touch - K.I.T.
Kevin Underhill & Warren Loper - Interprovincial Pipelines Inc.

BC One Call
Scott Henley

Edmonton Emergency Response Department
Tim Vandenbrink - Effective Awareness Programs

A Risk Communication to Pipeline Neighbours
Joan Hess - Trans Mountain Pipe Line Company Ltd.

Safety Starts With a Call - 1998 Safety Breakfasts
Bev Graham - Petroleum Transmission Company Ltd.

Public Awareness and the Role of the Board
Mike Sullivan - National Energy Board

Conclusion

Closing Comments

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When I was approached by Mike Sullivan to make this presentation, the working title was "Conducting a Public Awareness Program". However, as I began work on THIS, I realized that what I really wanted to talk about is how the TransCanada PipeLines public awareness program is evolving into something much more pro-active and inclusive than anything the company has undertaken to date.

So today, I'm not sure I will be providing you with many answers. Hopefully, I will give you some insights on where TransCanada is taking its Public Awareness Program. And certainly, I and the other TransCanada folks here today, have a goal of picking your brains on how we can best achieve some of our objectives as our program evolves.

As our industry becomes fractured by the stresses and strains of a deregulated market place, our concern for public safety is the tie that binds us together. This is the one forum where there are no proprietary ideas. So, please feel free to steal any ideas we may present this morning. Rest assured, we intend do to the same from your programs.

The TransCanada pipeline system poses a tremendous challenge for our public awareness effort. We have 14 492 kilometres of pipeline in a right-of-way that is 4 422 kilometres long, running from Burstall, Saskatchewan to Phillipsburg, Quebec.

We have more than 7 400 landowners, many of whom own more than one property crossed by our pipeline. Our pipeline's location has a potential impact on 387 communities, represented by 479 first responder organizations, including fire, police and emergency medical response units. It's a lot of ground to cover.

First, let me give you an overview of our current Public Awareness Program, which focuses on three external audiences:

• Excavators and heavy equipment operators;
• First Responders;
• Municipal officials.

Excavators are people who could potentially damage our pipeline. They include landowners, contractors, seismic crews and other utilities, to name a few. Our message to excavators is simple, and universal: Call Before You Dig!

We spread this Call Before U Dig (CBUD) message several ways:

• Annual mailings to landowners, including a calendar;
• Personal visits with landowners;
• "Call Before U Dig" information provided to landowners, contractors;
• Contractor breakfasts to promote CBUD, either hosted by TCPL or with other industry members;
• Sponsorship and participation at association/industry trade shows to promote CBUD;
• Signage to indicate presence in community;
• 1-800 CBUD number to ease contact process;
• Free locates;
• Help with crossing applications;
• Endorsement and participation in one-call systems;
• Handouts and trinkets to promote CBUD, such as fridge and dash magnets, hats, pen holders, etc.;
• Direct advertising.

For First Responders, our objective is to prepare them to respond to an emergency in a co-operative and co-ordinated manner. To accomplish this, we have identified all agencies likely to respond to a pipeline emergency and contacted them to initiate a dialogue and process of planning and coordination. Some of the activities in this area include:

• Annual contact with each agency;
• Producing and distributing an educational video and leader's guide on pipeline emergency response for use by emergency response units in training their members;
• Producing an emergency planning workbook as a framework for development of local emergency response plans;
• Facilities tours.

For municipal officials, our objective is to educate them to become our ambassadors. We want them to feel confident and trust in the company and its dedication to the safety of the public.

In this regard, we have undertaken the following:

• Continually updating our list of community leaders;
• Establishing personal liaison with provincial and local politicians and officials;
• Meeting with councils;
• Maintaining an ongoing dialogue with community opinion makers through personal contact by senior field staff;
• Sponsoring local programs, such as child identification, child safety and snowmobile safety programs.

The program has done well. We have been able to achieve our objectives in making these key stakeholders more aware of safety issues.

However, we've concluded that it's not enough. Our program has been a quiet one, based on meetings with folks, who, for the most part, know who we are, have some understanding (or think they have some understanding) of our pipeline, and are open to our message. As one of our people put it: "Our program assumes that the public is a sleeping giant that we don't want to wake."

Well, we believe the giant is awake. When a pipeline rupture occurs, it is not a local event. Because they are infrequent and provide great videos, they always make the news. The public knows these pipeline accidents occur, and are becoming more and more uneasy about them. It's our responsibility to ensure that the public has the right story about the tremendous efforts our industry puts forth in the name of public safety.

We believe we need to go beyond our traditional audiences, and expand our efforts to all those who may be influenced and impacted by our activities or pipeline emergencies.

This means extending our message to neighbouring landowners, the public, regulators, provincial and federal officials, the media, members of our own industry (through forums such as this) and our employees; not just the ones with the responsibility for public awareness. Any employee who has contact with the public should be a safety ambassador for the company and the industry.

So how do we do this? How do we successfully, effectively and cost efficiently expand the reach of our message?

We can no longer think of public awareness as a separate set of activities.

We want our public awareness program to become one with our community relations efforts. Wherever we go, whatever we do, we must have our people prepared to talk about, promote, and remind folks about our public safety activities. And that message must be consistent, even as the delivery is tailored to more effectively connect with specific stakeholders in our rural and urban areas.

We've established a new External Relations Department with a focus on communicating our key messages to stakeholders. This department is playing a role in the evolution of our community relations/public awareness initiatives in support of people like Fred Evoy, Roel Lancée, Rob Shepanik and Monica Brinck who deal with Emergency Preparedness and Public Awareness issues for TransCanada.

That department also has built links with our safety representatives in our five regional offices. These people have made our public awareness program the success it has been to date. The support and enthusiasm of these individuals - Doug Yates, Jim Shaw, Kim McCaig, Peter Vastenhout and Bryce Simes - is what will make this new initiative work.

We intend to place community relations coordinators in the field who will have community relations/public awareness initiatives as their sole focus.

This will provide the additional resources necessary to keep this effort at the forefront of our regional organizations.

We have revamped our key public awareness literature to make it moreconcise and readable.

We have added a pamphlet on personal safety which addresses what the public can do if faced with a pipeline emergency.

There are a number of other steps that also must be taken before we can consider the evolution of our program to be complete.

• Extend our reach to educate emergency responders beyond providing our front-line response video. We are going to be proactive in attending provincial fire chiefs conventions, organizing regional fire/police chiefs meetings and table-top strategy sessions, and providing speakers for local fire halls.
• Develop safety presentations for local community organizations, such as Rotary and Lions Clubs to reach key opinion and business leaders.
• Step up our communications on public safety issues with local media so that communities more frequently read about the maintenance work being undertaken to keep the pipeline in their community operating safely.
• Spread public awareness to local schools. We recently developed an activity book for use by second through fourth grade teachers and students, and are developing an outreach program to have these teachers find ways to utilize these materials in their classes. If the children feel safe about natural gas, so should their parents.
• Next month will see distribution of our new landowner newsletter for landowners and their elected officials. Safety information will be a key part of this publication's content.
• We're moving this initiative to the internet, and hope to have a Community Relations site on the TransCanada Web site in the near future. A key portion of this site will be dedicated to public awareness information.
• And we will be finding ways to better integrate our public awareness messages into the day-to-day routine of all our employees.

The messages involved in the program must be consistent, while being cognizant of the specific needs of different stakeholders and they must be delivered frequently.

Just as critical to this effort is the need to have an appropriate feedback and evaluation mechanism. We need this to measure the effectiveness of our programs, but also to demonstrate to our stakeholders that we care about their opinions on public safety. And then we must find ways to act on this information. This will be a critical focus during the months ahead.

While we don't have all the answers, we do know that this community relations approach to public awareness can work. Our recent experience with the community of Cabri, Saskatchewan, is a case in point.

In December, we had a line break near Cabri. There were no injuries or serious property damage. The operation to contain the rupture and repair the line went like clockwork. Our people in the field did a wonderful job in keeping in touch with the landowners closest to the break and their municipal officials.

We felt there would be a need to sit down with the community and explain what had happened. However, local leaders were ambivalent about having a meeting. But we knew we had to do something, and we wanted to go beyond the "us versus them" format of having company officials provide a briefing at a public meeting. We wanted something that was less confrontational, more one-on-one, and that would encourage wide community participation.

The people in the field always have the best handle on these situations, and, sure enough, one of our right-of-way agents recommended we hold a community night. A great idea, and a good test for our new public awareness vision.

Our objective was to ensure that everyone in Cabri understood what we were doing to keep our pipeline operating safely. So we sent invitations to our landowners and municipal officials inviting them to the event. We then papered the town with posters so the community knew they were invited. We hired the local hockey team moms to cater beef on a bun.

We brought in about a dozen experts from Calgary to complement another dozen of our field personnel to greet people and host information booths about the line break, our maintenance program, and construction plans for the area.

We had a turnout of more than 300 people. Most of the folks came for the free meal, but judging from the informal exit interviews they came away with much more than that.

They appreciated learning about our pipeline, even though they didn't think they would. The one-on-one approach paid off in that regard.

The event further reinforced the positive attitudes people felt for the company.

And more than one resident was relieved to learn the free meal did not come with a speech.

Our Cabri experience demonstrates that the idea of being proactive with the public has benefits, even in what you may consider to be the worst of times.

In summary, there are new and greater expectations on the part of the public and elected officials for information on safety. We are, more than ever, expected to be the guardians of public safety, and there are no excuses for not delivering. Therefore, it is in our best interests to ensure our stakeholders understand how we go about safeguarding the public.

We have excellent programs. There is a need to talk about them.

If we can better inform more people, more frequently with a consistent message about our pipeline safety programs, it can only:

• Provide for better co-ordination and public understanding during times of emergency;
• Reinforce positive attitudes toward individual companies and the industry;
• and maintain the positive relationships we have all worked hard to build with our communities and regulators.

We see the evolution of our public awareness effort as an investment in our future and the communities' future.

It's the right, responsible thing to do.

And it should demonstrate to the public, elected officials and our regulators that we can provide information on public safety to a wider audience in partnership with them, not as a requirement by them.

Questions and Answers

The 1979 Millwoods Pipeline Rupture which I described to you, and the ensuing scramble for vital information, taught us all how essential it is to know your neighbours and the people you may have to work with in an emergency. What did we do about it? Well, the first step we took was in organizing EAPUOC - we met, and continue to meet, monthly and all members involve their upper management in at least a couple of our meetings each year. We have presented, every year since 1980, a Spring Safety Seminar which attracts more than 500 attendees from the pipeline, utilities, excavating and other engineering and construction trades and professions.

EAPOUC tests and exercises its responses, but when a real emergency happens, it's necessary to bring all these people - the right people - together quickly! That's been our goal in developing our "Emergency Call-Down System". Our objective is to quickly alert every operator-member of EAPUOC, to advise them of an actual or potential pipeline emergency, to canvass or contact our members in response to a perceived problem - for instance a widespread, unidentified petroleum odour - to warn of a potential threat to installations or to heighten awareness of a developing situation or threat such as an oil slick or a sheen on a river.

Edmonton inaugurated its "911 Emergency" facility many years ago - March 1969 - the first Canadian city to provide this single-call, rapid access to ambulance, fire and police services. As the Edmonton telephone system was city-owned and operated - and a member of EAPUOC - a suitable design plan and the equipment to tie in with "911" and the fire service were readily made available. It was also helpful - but is not an essential for such a system - that Edmonton's city services and departments are part of an "umbrella" operating policy which requires them all to contribute expertise, equipment and services which may be required for Edmonton's disaster and emergency preparedness. The resulting Call-Down System was put in place with the cost shared among EAPUOC members.

EAPUOC finances its activities through two classes of annual membership fees, with larger fees from pipeline and utility-operating members and lesser fees for government, regulatory and emergency responders.

Dedicated telephone links are installed between our emergency response/dispatch centre and the 24 hour control centres of three of our EAPUOC members. This "1 to 3" link is activated by a "pipeline" button on every emergency dispatcher's phone. Each of the three member-company control centres has a list of designated EAPUOC members for which it is responsible in an emergency - grouped according to pipeline specialty, that is:

• Gas Pipelines;
• Crude-oil Pipelines;
• Refined products Pipelines.

Every company on each of those three lists is then called individually by one of the three main control centres. Emergency dispatch then makes additional member contacts:

• The County of Strathcona Fire Department;
• Alberta Energy and Utilities Board;
• National Energy Board.

The same consistent message is given in every instance. As each company is notified and determines its status and involvement, it makes a call back to fire dispatch, using a designated phone number, reporting its status, its involvement and action it is taking. Each of these calls is time logged on a dual tape-recorder and can be retrieved for information, action, assistance or reference.

Emergency dispatch meanwhile requests police response, calls out appropriate fire and ambulance responders and, in addition has placed the call to the County of Strathcona's Fire Dispatch to establish a working relationship and forewarn them of potential involvement.

The call that was placed to the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board and the National Energy Board puts them on notice for any special assistance or regulatory action that may be needed. Pipeline and utilities service and other response can thus be co-ordinated or channelled through Edmonton's emergency dispatch centre and should the incident escalate, the basis that has been established for co-ordination can continue, or be transferred in an orderly way to involve higher levels of management, such as a municipal Emergency Operations Centre.

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On behalf of IPL, Warren and I would like to thank the NEB for providing us with the opportunity to discuss IPL's Public Awareness Program. Some of you may have been present at the 1997 Awareness workshop where IPL discussed the actual mechanics or process of how IPL conducts its annual Public Awareness Program. Warren and I are here today to speak to you about some of the tools IPL utilizes to carry out its annual program. I will talk about a new initiative IPL has undertaken while Warren will speak to you about our video "Hit or Miss" which continues to be an excellent method of communicating awareness of pipelines.

The goals of IPL's Public Awareness Program are to educate and achieve awareness with stakeholders who live and work near our pipelines. IPL's goal is to provide specific information required by the various target groups and present it in a manner that is simple and clear which we believe will enhance the usability of the information for that particular group.

K.I.T. - Keeping In Touch

In mid 1997, IPL's Right-of-Way, Crossings, Environment, Safety and Public Affairs departments got together to revisit Public Awareness - more specifically, the brochures that the Company uses to conduct its annual program. There was a desire to give our materials a new look and to update them and ensure they were delivering the key messages as effectively as possible. To assist us in this process we sought the expertise of outside consultants whose role was to review all past Public Awareness Materials and develop a package that would meet our needs and the needs of the various stakeholders.

From this process, the Keeping in Touch theme was developed and expanded into the program we are currently unfolding to the public. K.I.T. is the acronym and logo that is the new underlying theme for IPL's annual Public Awareness Program.

Communication Objectives

Educate Audiences

We have 3 key Target Groups which IPL has identified - landowners, neighbours and tenants, Emergency Responders, and Excavators and Utilities.

Communicate Directly Relevant Information

Here we wanted to provide specific relevant information to each target group.

Customize Messages

Make them more relevant to the individual target audiences in terms of content style and tone.

Simplify Message

In order to enhance the usability of the information we wanted to simplify the message and avoid the use of technical jargon wherever possible.

K.I.T. Bag

As mentioned earlier, this presentation is meant to focus on the tools which IPL utilizes to conduct it's annual program rather than discuss the process. A key component of IPL's program is the personal contact by IPL field staff who live and work in the area. If a personal contact is not possible the information is left at the residence and followed up with a phone call.

The components of the 1998 bag are made up of a container that is designed in such a manner to encourage people to store this information, a thermos, which is the handout for this year's program, and finally, a letter from each regional manager introducing Keeping in Touch.

Kit Container

We utilized a professional photographer who travelled the line to capture photos of field staff and landowners along the system with the intent of delivering the message that we not only run through the various communities along our system but we are part of them.

Part of the kit also contains the NEB Pamphlet entitled Living and Working Near Pipelines - a Landowner Guide.

The heart of the package is the former IPL safety brochure which has been revitalized with current photos and text that is put together in a more user-friendly manner in terms of style, content and text.

Reply Card

Part of IPL's program includes assessing and modifying the Public Awareness program to ensure effectiveness. A component of that assessment is the reply cards that form part of the KIT. The cards are self-addressed with postage prepaid; the input we receive from the public will assist us in developing an effective program.

Binders

Here we see the packages provided to the emergency responders and excavators and utilities. The format is different in that the contents of the two packages. The binders are tabbed for easy reference and fit the needs of office based users.

The Emergency Responders Binder contains specifics with respect to products shipped and was achieved through the use of Material Safety Data Sheets - which groups like fire and police are more familiar with.

The Excavator and Utility binder obviously focuses on precautions required when working near pipelines. It includes system maps as well as the NEB booklet Excavation and Construction Near Pipelines.

This marks the first year of the KIT program and we will be anxious to hear back from our Target audiences.

"Hit or Miss" Video

It is a given that not all individuals are born to be public speakers but we still need to get a clear, consistent message to a large audience concerning the dangers of NOT calling before you dig. In field locations, our Pipeline Maintenance Personnel are given the task to deliver this message to the public.

Keeping in mind the prime responsibility of our Pipeline Maintenance Personnel is to maintain the pipeline system, sending this diverse group of "non public speakers" out to talk about the dangers of not calling before you dig could have varying results. So, by creating the Hit or Miss video - we have standardized the medium so that the message is not only consistent and concise, but is also portable for their use.

The video was created in 1993 through a partnership with IPL and Trans-Northern Pipelines Inc. We can't take all the credit for this production as we had assistance from other sources - the use of existing footage from the Edmonton Area Pipeline and Utility Operators' Committee's (EAPUOC) safety video, to the NEB's insight to Trans-Northern's needs to produce a similar production. I guess the cost of sharing $30 000 didn't hurt either. With additional industry support we came up with a product that is as relevant today as it was when it was first created.

One of the keys for us was to ensure it was a generic piece that anyone could use. In fact, in 1997, TransCanada approached us about adding their name to the credits - that is the only revision the video has seen in the last five years.

Together, we target this training video at excavation and utility companies as well as municipalities and engineering companies. To date - I would estimate there are as many as 1500 copies of this video in circulation.

This year, IPL is incorporating Hit or Miss with the KIT program. This means that 300 - 400 contractors, excavators and utility companies will get the video through IPL's annual Public Awareness Program.

IPL will continue to assess and change its program to ensure it meets our needs and the needs of our target audiences. We are confident that we have an excellent program, but are equally aware that there is always room to improve, and it is functions such as these that provide us with the opportunity to learn from others as we all strive to ensure that we are communicating important information in the best manner possible.

____________________
* Effective October 13, 1998, Interprovincial Pipe Line Inc. became Enbridge Pipelines Inc.

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Scott Henley, Manager of BC One Call, presented their new video on the One Call System. Discussion following the video focused mainly on the development of One Call organizations.

With respect to the issue of legislation, which would require companies with buried utilities to belong to one call organizations, Scott stated that in the U.S. there is legislation and that all but two states have it however, it didn't happen over night. In Canada, legislation has not been realized and there are pros and cons to doing so. In most cases, companies with buried utilities see the immediate advantage to belonging to a one call system, however, there are some companies which have yet to do so. Essentially, One Call in Canada is run with a voluntary membership.

The question was raised about the make-up of One Call organizations in Canada. Scott stated that all four one-calls in Canada (Québec, Ontario, Alberta and B.C.) have board members and are run in a not-for-profit format.

Bob Chisholm, Manager of Alberta One Call took an opportunity to raise an important view that when pipeline companies talk to landowners and contractors it is to essentially deliver the same message that One Call is sending. Therefore, Bob stated that there is great benefit for all to work together to realize the common goal of public safety.

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Tim Vandenbrink, Captain of the Edmonton Emergency Response Department, provided attendees with a talk on Effective Awareness Programs. Tim has provided public education and fire safety presentations to people of all ages for many years and in that time, he has continually re-assessed his department's program.

Tim has found that as people get older, they tend to be less receptive to information and training designed to protect them and that this is one of the reasons to continually re-assess and enhance existing programs.

While Tim provided a humorous view to his public safety and education presentations, the message he clearly drove home was that safety is not proprietary and, in order to effectively educate the public, we must not only "talk the talk" but also "walk the walk".

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Trans Mountain's pipeline which runs from Edmonton to Burnaby supplies 90% of the petroleum products used in the Lower Mainland - products like gasoline, diesel fuel and crude oil. The pipeline was built 45 years ago and today, many more people live close to the pipeline and terminals than when they were first built.

In 1996, Trans Mountain began work on an extensive project to create and coordinate a Company safety and awareness information package for distribution to over 200 000 neighbors who live within approximately one kilometre of their pipeline or facilities.

The risk communication to pipeline neighbours was entitled "Trans Mountain's Pipeline in your Neighbourhood and Living Safely With it." The mailing was intended to inform neighbors how to identify a leak and to know the important "do's" and "don'ts" for their safety.

While the information contained within the brochure was important, the coordination of such a vast mailing, which included an introductory letter, the brochure and neighbourhood-specific maps, was equally important. The package was distributed by Canada Post through information provided by them, and Trans Mountain prepared neighbourhood maps of their pipeline by postal code. Each neighbour received a map showing the location of their pipeline and facilities in the immediate area.

For those interested in receiving additional information or had questions about Trans Mountain's facilities or operations, the Company included a postage-paid reply card.

Trans Mountain received and followed up on approximately 300 reply cards. The comments provided in their responses will assist the Company in preparing future community communications.

The majority of responses received were positive, the concerns focused on health, safety and environment. Many comments were received congratulating the company on their communications efforts.

Trans Mountain intends to continue a similar communication program on a bi-annual basis in the future, ensuring that the neighbors remain aware of their facilities and operations.

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Over the past few years, Bev Graham and Petroleum Transmission Company have been leading the Saskatchewan pipeline industry in the organization of the annual Saskatchewan Contractor Safety Breakfasts.

These breakfasts begin in early Spring and are held along the corridor of urban and rural municipalities for approximately three weeks delivering the message to the Saskatchewan digging community that "Safety Starts with a Call".

The result of this joint-awareness initiative is the delivery of their universal message to a captured audience. Although the program sounds simple and the message universal, undertaking a joint campaign where nine different companies are involved is a difficult task. Determining success in any awareness campaign is also difficult, however, over the last three years, there has been a steady decline in unauthorized activity reported near pipelines under Board jurisdiction in Saskatchewan.

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"A mari usque ad mare"- from sea to sea

Pipeline company Public Awareness representatives are in attendance today from the maritimes to B.C. You are the frontline professionals who blanket the Canadian public with brochures, maps, novelties, calendars, open houses, educational material and maintain memberships in damage prevention committees in the name of public and pipeline safety.

Just by being here, you have shown your willingness and your company's willingness to share best practices, learn new techniques and expand your programs.

Overview

By way of the introduction, here are the topics that I hope to briefly cover today . . .

• The Pipeline Crossing Regulations;
• Public Awareness Today - tailoring big and small programs to meet the needs of a particular audience;
• What a Program should achieve;
• What we - National Energy Board Inspection Officers - are looking for in a PA Program;
• How Inspectors assess programs;
• The Future of Public Awareness.

The National Energy Board Pipeline Crossing Regulations

The Pipeline Crossing Regulations require all Pipeline companies to establish and maintain "ongoing" Public Awareness programs. Prior to the issue of the Regulations in 1988, some companies were already conducting awareness programs. However, the Regulations did provide a starting point for many.

Programs must:

1. Inform the public of the presence of the line,
2. Inform the public of its responsibility when constructing a facility or excavating near a pipeline, and;
3. Be assessed on a regular basis to determine program effectiveness.

   The Board, as a Regulator, is responsible for ensuring that its regulations are complied with and that these Regulations continue to be relevant and effective. By providing forums like the "Awareness Workshops", we feel that we are helping to provide the framework for better programs.

Public Awareness Today

Awareness Programs come in many shapes and sizes - each designed to best serve the public along their respective rights-of-way.

Some pipeline facilities cover vast distances through a variety of urban settings and require a small army of people to ensure operational safety.

Other pipeline facilities may not cover the same distances and the neighbourhoods through which they traverse may not be as diverse in terms of population density or industry. However, each program requires planning, coordination and organization. In each case, there is a need to tailor the public awareness program to effectively address potential issues and respective audiences.

Companies operating a short pipeline may find a public awareness program difficult to justify. However, the Regulations don't discriminate. The safety of the public who live alongside a pipeline of several kilometres is just as important as the safety of those who live alongside a right-of-way that extends across the country. The very nature of the NEB's Regulations, allow a pipeline company to determine what works best for them and, to tailor their program to meet the needs of their audience or their stakeholders.

Dedication to training staff responsible for delivering a quality program and the Company's corporate philosophy are key factors in the effectiveness of a program. Big budgets, that may reflect the scope of a Company's program, do not necessarily mean an effective program.

What Should a Public Awareness Program Achieve?

A Public Awareness Program should create an "informed public" that knows how to prevent incidents - mainly third party damage - and, knows how to respond to pipeline incidents.

To achieve this, a Public Awareness Program must be flexible. As the public's demand for information changes so must the program.

We all need to be more efficient in providing the information the public demands.

Inspections, Audits and Monitoring of Public Awareness Programs

We come to Audit, Inspect and Monitor to ensure that industry is meeting the legislated requirements of the NEB.

In this role, the reception we receive is sometimes mixed. We try to avoid dwelling on the negatives and rather enhance steps to improve performance. The point is that if we all work together, we will be much more effective.

The Role of the Board

The National Energy Board sits at the centre of the regulatory "web" of pipeline companies - one of the "common threads" that links industry together. Perhaps another is that we are working toward providing the Canadian Public with safety and increasing their confidence that pipeline systems are safe.

Safety, however, is not proprietary. By sharing information, accomplishments and best practices, the assurance of public safety is more likely.

Beyond the requirements of the Regulations, however, the undefined role of the Board, with respect to public awareness is to:

• Encourage continual improvement of public awareness programs;
• Facilitate the exchange of information, names, trends and share proven methods whenever and wherever the need arises - over the phone, during an audit or a meeting.

With our link to industry experts in the field of public awareness, we can take a wide view on the public awareness initiative.

The bottom line is - not only does the audit and review process ensure compliance, it also enables us to gain and share knowledge in the realm of public awareness and, allows us to gather information on trends beyond the proven methods of providing public information.

Field of Vision

For example, some of what we're looking for when we review a PA Program are:

Corporate Philosophy

Is there a trend associated with the Company's corporate philosophy and providing awareness? Information on program delivery and guidance that trickles down to company staff may not be as effective as information acquired through training.

Leadership

Within the pipeline industry, there is a leadership that exists in terms of initiative, philosophy, recognizing trends and innovation. Other times, it is individuals within a company that drive the program. These companies and individuals become good reference people and mentors.

Current Trends

Changing techniques in excavation and facility construction may impose new risks to pipelines. Examples: directional drilling, ground "ripping" for fibre-optic cables. Is the Company targeting these "technique" specific excavation companies?

Is the Company using current technology to assist in providing awareness of pipelines - e.g. interactive Web pages.

New Issues

Other new methods or reasons for excavation may also increase the risk to pipelines - in Saskatchewan, duck hunters were augering deep, wide holes near pipeline rights-of-way for cover while hunting and, during the ice storm in Quebec and Ontario, the speed at which utility companies had to operate to restore electricity presented a greater risk to pipelines than would normal operating procedure.

Innovation

Pipeline safety Place Mats, survey response mechanisms and the joint cooperation that goes into planning and organizing events like the contractor breakfasts - are all innovative ideas that can be shared with other companies. Innovation points to a program that is "alive" and ongoing.

Vulnerability

Is there an aspect of the program that is not effective and could perhaps be changed? Often, it is not the design or specific contents of a program that increase vulnerability. Rather, it is the lack of commitment that the company or its representatives place on the existence of the program.

Assessing a Public Awareness Program

The National Energy Board does not conduct an "audit" of a Company's program but rather reviews the company's assessment of their program's effectiveness.

Some questions that a Board inspector keeps in mind to determine the effectiveness of an assessme

nt are:

And of course, "Can we Help?" - is there anything the NEB can do to assist the "evolution" of your company's program?

A Work in Progress

Providing Awareness to the public is a "Work in Progress". The pieces of the puzzle seem to connect, but the overall picture never complete. As public demand changes or, the fashion in which we receive and transmit information changes, so must the programs that deliver the message.

If information continues to be delivered in the same fashion it was a ten or twenty years ago, it eventually becomes a nuisance and consumes our time. Programs should be current in content as well as delivery.

Completing the Puzzle

We are all working on our piece of the puzzle.

Ten or fifteen years ago, the pieces were more scattered yet slowly, over the years, leaders and innovators within industry have successfully completed some of the picture.

Corporate philosophy drives innovation, creates leaders, alerts us to changes in current trends and is essential to establishing and realizing goals. These pieces of the puzzle are coming together. However, completing the puzzle may, at times, seem like taking two steps forward and one step back - because, what we think is safe today, may not be safe tomorrow.

The public who live along the line are our neighbours, family and friends and it is important that they feel comfortable living and working near these facilities.

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Over the last couple of years, pipelines have been in the news and making headlines. Unfortunately, the media does a good job of reporting disasters. However, very little - if anything - is ever reported in the same fashion of initiatives that exist within the pipeline industry of programs like these. Programs that provide public safety.

Providing accurate, timely and effective information to ensure public safety is a tall order. However, if we look back at the presentations that were delivered today, a great deal is being done to ensure public safety.

Yet, the Public Awareness initiative is only as strong as its weakest link. The general public doesn't discriminate between company "X" or company "Y", federal or provincial jurisdiction - if there is an incident, industry in general and the Regulator will be painted with the same brush.

Collectively, a great deal can be achieved through enhanced cooperation, communication, joint participation and evaluation of public awareness programs. As long as we continue to share information, best practices and the goal of providing public safety on every right-of-way, I believe the goal of achieving public safety will be reached.

Questions and Answers

Comment from Larry Champ, Shell U.S. and One-Call, Executive Member

"We are facing the same problems in the United States. You have tremendous ideas, and we should get together and share information and share ideas about public safety, and talk about what the pipeline companies are doing. We could put these ideas together on each side of the border, share them, and go back and forth. We could and should do the same with One-Call systems. We should commit to sharing information on that as well."

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As pipelines that once lay well beyond city limits continue to be encroached by urban development, the risk of third party damage increases each day making it essential for the public to know how to prevent and respond to incidents.

Industry is competing with one another on various issues but on the issue of public safety, the playing field is level. Safety is everybody's business - not owned by an individual company, committee or party.

At the Awareness '98 workshop in Vancouver, the commitment to share best practices was evident by presenting and attending companies alike. Through the continued and growing cooperative movement by all companies to provide effective public information, it is likely that improved public safety to those who live and work near pipelines will be realized.

Thank you for attending and participating in the Awareness '98 workshop and a very special thank-you to Scott Henley of BC One Call for his assistance in helping us realize this event.

Sincerely,

Mike Sullivan
Project Leader, Awareness '98 Workshop

The 1998 Public Awareness Workshop Team:

Stella Hiebert - Internal Planning
Karen Befus - External Planning
Franco Valle - Project Advisor
Mike Sullivan - Project Leader and Facilitator

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