Suncor Energy pleads guilty to Newfoundland offshore drilling rig spill

Suncor Energy pleads guilty to Newfoundland offshore drilling rig spill by The Canadian Press, October 5, 2012,  Calgary Herald
The regulator for Newfoundland’s offshore oil industry says Suncor Energy has pleaded guilty to a spill from a drilling rig last year. The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board said today that the company pleaded guilty in provincial court to causing or permitting a spill in the province’s offshore area. The board charged Suncor Energy following a spill in March 2011 of 26,400 litres of synthetic based mud, a fluid used to lubricate drill pipes and balance reservoir pressure. Suncor Energy has been fined $30,000 and ordered to pay another $100,000 into an environmental damages fund. Two other charges – failing to handle drilling fluids in a way that would prevent pollution and failing to handle drilling fluids so they don’t create an environmental hazard – were dropped as part of the guilty plea. [Emphasis added]

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