Welcome – we’re glad you’re here! If you are new to WCSS – or have been a member for a while and would like a refresher – below are a few quick reference points and helpful links to keep in mind.
NEW!
A change to membership rates will be implemented in 2024. 
- WCSS has 9 co-ops that are led by Steering Committees that determine the type of equipment needed for their specific geographic features, exercise objectives and ensure a positive relationship within their communities.
- Your assets may only be in one co-op, or they may be in several. WCSS has an interactive map that will allow you to sign up to receive notifications about upcoming exercises; it is a regulatory requirement to attend an exercise in each are of your operations annually.
- Current regulations in Alberta and Saskatchewan offer upstream oil and gas companies the option to either maintain membership with an oil spill cooperative, or have a company-specific, regulator-approved, oil spill contingency plan in place.
- For clarification on compliance with regulatory requirements see:
- Directive 071 Emergency Preparedness and Response Requirements for the Petroleum Industry on the Alberta Energy Regulator’s website
- Section 2.3 of the Saskatchewan Upstream Petroleum Industry Storage Standards, Directive S-01.
- In British Columbia the requirement is less prescriptive, however, WCSS membership is an effective and cost-efficient strategy to support the contingency planning and functional training requirements in the BC Energy Regulator’s (BCER) Emergency Management Regulation.
- WCSS invoices all licensees based on well counts (including gas wells that produce greater than 2m3 liquid hydrocarbons/month) and pipeline length data maintained by the provincial regulator on January 1st of each year.
- Invoices are sent to the attention of your company’s Accounts Payables department in Q1 each year; payment is net 30 days.
- WCSS will always invoice the licensee. If your company acquires assets from another company, those assets will be included in your invoice the following year.
- New wells and pipelines licensed in 2021 will be included in the 2022 billing year, however, companies that wish to include new wells and/or pipelines acquired in 2021 can self-declare and pay a pro-rated fee for those additional assets. Click here for membership fee formula.
- Note that WCSS pipeline data that is used for membership purposes includes pipelines that are licensed by provincial regulators only; pipelines licensed by the Canada Energy Regulator are not included in your 2022 membership fees. If you wish to have WCSS coverage on these lines, please self-declare the length of pipeline and WCSS will adjust your invoice accordingly.
- Those companies that are not in agreement with the well counts and/or km of pipeline that is provided by our service provider can appeal by outlining the discrepancy and submitting it to WCSS.
- Contact Shiela Wooldridge for more information.
- WCSS members must sign an Equipment Lease Agreement prior to the use of any WCSS equipment, however, WCSS will not withhold equipment in the case of an emergency spill response requirement but will hold the member accountable for the requirements outlined in the actual lease agreement regardless.
- To avoid potential delays in receiving equipment during an emergency, WCSS encourages its members to review and sign the Equipment Lease Agreement at their earliest convenience. Individuals with corporate signing authority may execute the agreement here.
- A Live Equipment Report is available for all member companies to review and provide feedback or use as a guide when building their own initial response units.
Co-op Exercises
- Your membership fees enable our Steering Committees to plan and execute approximately 20 exercises per year, throughout the co-ops. There is no fee to attend these exercises, and the schedule can be viewed throughout the year. These exercises facilitate spill response equipment and environment-specific tactic awareness for attendees.
- If you are unable to make it to an exercise in your own co-op area, you may choose to complete Spill Responder 100 (though not in consecutive years) or attend an exercise in a different co-op area. Contact your Administrator to ensure appropriate tracking is taking place for your company.
- Online training is required prior to attending any field exercise. We encourage our member companies to get a head start on creating a student account – completion of the WCSS Orientation and eLearning modules allow for better time management for busy personnel, and once the online training has been completed, it can be referenced any time to serve as a refresher.
Additional Training
- WCSS has developed competency-based training that may be accessed by our member companies, spill response contractors and regulators. The intention is to facilitate a common understanding between these groups to ensure a successful response with appropriate communication and realistic expectations.
- WCSS boats may only be operated by those that have completed the Small Commercial Vessel Operator training in addition to the 3-day WCSS Boat Handling: Oil Spill Containment & Recovery course. Recertification of the boat training is required every 3 years.
- WCSS can help to customize training for your team in an in-house contract setting. Contact shannon.jarrell@wcss.ab.ca for more information.
WCSS encourages all member companies to peruse the website – there is simply so much information to share that we could not possibly fit it all into one page. That said, if you would like to speak to a human, the WCSS team and our volunteers are always standing by. We are proud of the services we provide to our member companies and love to talk about it!