Inspection Officer Orders issued to Westcoast Energy Inc. and Ogilvie Mountain Holdings

October 10, 2025

The CER issued Inspection Officer Orders to Westcoast Energy Inc. (Westcoast) and Ogilvie Mountain Holdings (OMH) for contravening Damage Prevention Regulations and Onshore Pipeline Regulations. The contraventions resulted in a high potential near miss incident.

On September 20, the CER was notified of an incident at a Westcoast facility. OMH, a contractor, struck a live 2-inch power gas line while excavating a pipe for inspection work at a Westcoast compressor station near Merrit, B.C.

The CER deployed Inspection Officers to the site where they discovered OMH contravened several Damage prevention Regulations. The company:

  • Used air-powered chisels and jackhammers near a live pipe without first exposing it, which caused damage to a power gas line.
  • Failed to inform OMH workers of their obligations under Damage Prevention Regulations.

These contraventions resulted in an Inspection Officer Order to OMH, which requires the company to:

  • Stop all ground disturbance activities within three meters of CER-regulated pipelines, unless digging using manual tools like shovels.
  • Investigate the cause of the incident.
  • Create an implementation plan for corrective and preventative actions.
  • Submit the implementation plan to the Inspection Officer for approval within 60 days.

CER Inspection Officers also found Westcoast contravened the Onshore Pipeline Regulations. Westcoast failed to properly supervise contractors during ground disturbance activities. The company also failed to ensure that OMH was doing ground disturbance work safely and in alignment with Westcoast practices.

These contraventions resulted in an Inspection Officer Order to Westcoast, which requires the company to:

  • Investigate the cause of the incident.
  • Create an implementation plan for corrective and preventative actions. The plan must include a detailed section on its supervision process amongst other considerations detailed in the Inspection Officer Order.
  • Submit the implementation plan to the Inspection Officer by October 31, 2025.
  • Submit quarterly progress reports for review to the Inspection Officer until corrective and preventative actions have been implemented.

We will continue to follow up with both companies to ensure they comply with their Inspection Officer Order.

Inspection Officer Order VS-001-2025
Inspection Officer Order DPR-002-2025

Inspection Officer Orders help us hold companies accountable to some of the strictest safety and environmental standards in the world.

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