Alberta oil company fined $15K for not reporting release of toxic sour gas

Flames from a flare stack at an oil refinery. Photographer: Bartek Sadowski/Bloomberg

An Alberta oil and gas company has been fined $15,000 for failing to report a potentially lethal amount of hydrogen sulphide, or sour gas, had been released into the atmosphere.

In its decision, the Alberta Energy Regulator says a tank at a Mcland Resources work site near the hamlet of Tees, northeast of Red Deer, ruptured in March of 2023.

The toxic gas was released for more than three hours at a potentially lethal concentration, but nobody was harmed, says the report.

“If there would have been any individuals closer to the release location, the outcome may have been worse,” it says.

The company was aware of the rupture and worked to stop the release but ultimately failed to report it, says the report.

The regulator also determined the company failed to activate its mandated emergency response plan, meaning nearby residents weren’t informed of the release or the risks involved.

“The reporting of an emergency and implementation of an (emergency plan) is critical in ensuring the protection of human health and the environment,” the report says.

It says the regulator was informed of the release when people several kilometres downwind from the site called with concerns.

Mcland Resources did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the regulator says the company agreed with the decision.

“Mcland said they got lucky with this incident and it was a wake-up call,” Tyler Callicott, the regulator’s director of enforcement and orphaning, said in the report.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2025.

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press