Environmental Emergency Response Program

General Information:

  • An environmental accident is a release, leakage or spillage of a contaminant or pollutant into the environment or an incident which may or is likely to result in such a release, leakage or spillage, which, creates or may create a hazard to human life or health, to other living organisms, or to the physical environment
  • Manitoba Conservation maintains a 24-hour reporting line for environmental emergencies.  The number, (204) 944-4888, is included in federal and provincial spill reporting regulations
  • Mandatory reporting of environmental accidents in Manitoba is required by regulation.  This regulation refers to essentially the same reportable quantities of regulated, listed, products as the Federal Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, and The Canadian Environmental Protection Act, (with some more stringent variations).  The provincial regulation also looks at the
  • The Manitoba Environmental Emergency Response Team operates under the authority of The Dangerous Goods Handling and Transportation Act.  This Act gives Environment Officers and Inspectors special powers in emergencies to enter any land or building, control and clean up releases, and take any emergency actions required to protect persons, property, and the environment.
  • The requirements for reporting an environmental accident, and a schedule of the reportable amounts of  regulated materials can be found in the Environmental Accident Reporting Regulation
  • The active team consists of twelve Environment Officers from Manitoba Conservation.  Fourteen provincial regional Environment Officers located throughout the province are also trained to be part of the Department's response system.  When necessary, specialized expertise from any of the Department's program areas may be called out to assist in the response to an environmental accident.  the response team has access to all of the resources of the provincial government and, through agreement, the resources of the federal government as well.
  • The Emergency Team responds to releases or potential releases of contaminants that may have a detrimental effect on the physical environment or public health.  the Manitoba Emergency Plan identifies Manitoba Conservation as the lead provincial agency for dangerous goods incidents.