Ontario Regulation 210/01 (Oil And Gas Pipeline Systems) under the Technical Standards and Safety Act, 2000 regulates the safety of oil and gas pipelines in the province of Ontario. The regulation sets the requirements for the design, operation, maintenance, safety, and integrity of the pipelines and the regulation is supplemented by the Code Adoption Document, which adopts national technical standards with some Ontario-specific adjustments.
As a pipelines safety regulator, TSSA is committed to the goal of ensuring the safety of all oil and gas pipeline infrastructure in the province, including many underground pipeline networks that provide fuel for our homes. Pipeline strike incidents are one of the most common types of incidents reported to TSSA annually, with about 2,300 reported incidents per year on average. The majority of incidents are attributed to excavation activities taking place without the proper locate permissions from Ontario One Call. The number of pipeline strikes reported increases more than twofold in the spring and summer months from May to October when most outdoor construction projects requiring digging usually take place. TSSA is interested in seeing this number of incidents lowered in the future, and we have been taking steady steps to address this hazard.
In the past, TSSA used to produce and distribute a “guideline” document to provide safety information for excavators. However, the guideline document has been discontinued after TSSA had formally adopted Canadian Standard Association’s Z247 standard (Damage prevention for the protection of underground infrastructure) into the code adoption document in 2016. The Z247 standard stipulates various requirements for excavators to make sure that damages to underground infrastructures (including other infrastructure like electrical and telecommunication cables or sewer lines) are minimized, and the Z247 standard offers a more comprehensive approach towards ensuring the underground infrastructure safety.
The Z247 standard can be purchased on the CSA website here.
FAQs
What are my regulatory obligations as an excavator? |
The Section 9 of Ontario Regulation 210/01 states, “no person shall dig, bore, trench, grade, excavate or break ground with mechanical equipment or explosives without first ascertaining from the licence holder the location of any pipeline that may be interfered with.” |
What is a locate? |
Locate is an information provided by the locator in the form of ground surface markings and underground infrastructure location documentation, such as drawings, mapping, numeric descriptions, or other written documentation. A locator is a person authorized by the owner of the underground infrastructure to perform a locate and issue a locate form to the excavator.” While there are other entities providing locate service, in general, this refers to the Ontario One Call in our province. Locators uses electromagnetic fields, signals, or other acceptable industry best practice methods, together with the information provided by the owner of the underground infrastructure, to identify the location of that underground infrastructure. |
What is Ontario One Call and how do I contact them? |
Ontario One Call is a contact centre that receives excavation locate requests to ensure homeowners, excavators and infrastructure owners are safe when digging. |
What should I do if I accidentally struck a pipeline? Or witnessed a pipeline strike? |
If you’ve accidentally struck a pipeline or if you have witnessed a pipeline strike, please call Spills Action Centre (SAC) to report the incident. The number is 1-866-MOE-TIPS (663-8477). During your call with the SAC, you will be asked for:
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Helpful Links
- Canadian Common Ground Alliance’s Best Practices
- Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance’s Best Practices Document (V 8.0)
- Ontario Regulation 210/01: Oil and Gas Pipeline Systems
- Oil and Gas Pipeline Systems Code Adoption Document
- Ontario One Call website
- CAN/CSA-Z247-15 - Damage prevention for the protection of underground infrastructure
Contact(s)