[4] In 2013, Alberta's Energy Resource Conservation Board (ERCB) issued a reprimand to Plains Mainstream for operational failures in connection with the oil spill.
[5] School principal Brian Alexander and chief Steve Noskey of the Lubicon Cree First Nation both expressed concern about the lack of response or information from the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) in the week following the spill.
[6] According to a report in The Globe and Mail, four things went wrong in the Rainbow spill:[6] In 2010, after company monitoring flagged a problem, the line was dug up and repaired.
Due to the location in a remote area only accessible by helicopter at the time, the break was not confirmed until twelve hours later, just after dawn Friday.
According to Reg Eadie, an engineering professor and pipeline expert at the University of Alberta, that delay is among the most troubling parts of the spill.
Premier Ed Stelmach admitted that the initial response was slow and pledged to hold the company's "feet to the fire."
On February 26, 2013 Alberta's Energy Resource Conservation Board issued four high-risk enforcement actions against the pipeline owner, Calgary-based Plains Mainstream.
"[7] The company responded in a press release: "Plains is carefully reviewing the ERCB's investigation report to determine whether any further findings and improvements can be applied to our operations.
[7] On April 26, 2013 Plains Midstream Canada was charged with three counts of violating environmental protection laws relating to the spill.
The charges pertain to: "the spill itself, failing to take all reasonable measures to repair the problem and not pursuing all steps possible to remediate and dispose of the oil that contaminated over three hectares of beaver ponds and muskeg in a densely forested area.