Report on Fuel Shortage Released

The independent panel reviewing the fuel shortage the province experienced last summer released its report and recommendations today, Dec. 9.

The review was conducted at the request of government by Doug Keefe, a former senior provincial public servant and Alphonse MacNeil, a former assistant commissioner of the RCMP.

The panel concluded that an unusual combination of events caused the outage that began Aug. 28 and made 21 recommendations around planning, communications and emergency management.

"The panel reviewed the circumstances of this incident and recommended ways that we can better integrate fuel disruption into our all-hazards emergency management plans," said Municipal Affairs Minister Zach Churchill. "I have asked the Emergency Management Office to lead and co-ordinate the implementation of the recommendations. The health and safety of Nova Scotians is our top priority."

Mr. Churchill committed that government will begin work immediately with industry, emergency service providers and other stakeholders to implement some of the key recommendations including:

• designate the Emergency Management Office to be the lead point of contact for the fuel sector so that mitigation measures will be included in emergency management planning in the event of any potential disruption of supply
• work with key stakeholders to develop a communication protocol to ensure that the health-care sector, first responders and the public at large receive accurate, timely information about any anticipated fuel shortage
• work with emergency service providers to develop agreements with industry that will protect the conservation and security of fuel supplies

The panelists concluded that a delayed shipment to the Imperial Oil terminal in Dartmouth, combined with quality issues of that load and a replacement shipment, resulted in the outage and led to shortages at many gas stations around the province.

"Key public service providers and the fuel sector responded well during the unexpected disruption in their gas supplies, but there are lessons we can learn from this experience," said Mr. Keefe. "Another three-day outage is extremely unlikely but, in less benign circumstances, the consequences could have been much more severe.

"We are recommending better planning and communication between industry and government officials involved in emergency management and delivering of key public services."

The review panel's report is available at http://novascotia.ca/dma/fuel-supply.asp.