As an integrated oil company, we are focused on the full spectrum of environmental, health and safety issues both in the upstream business and in the downstream. Each segment has its unique challenges and opportunities, but our overriding principles of safe operations with minimal impact to the environment are consistent across our entire business.

We use responsible practices to ensure the protection of people and the environment. Safety is at the core of our operations and is of utmost importance as we strive to always protect our people, our neighbors and the environment that we all share. Stewardship of our EH&S programs is the responsibility of our Reserves, Safety and Environment Committee of the board of directors, who review our performance on a quarterly basis. This committee is supported by our EH&S Management Committee, as well as our upstream and downstream teams of dedicated professionals who regularly monitor our performance to ensure that Harvest conducts business in accordance with all regulatory requirements and industry best practices.

Upstream EH&S

In western Canada, we maintain a proactive safety management program that defines key principles by which all work is to be conducted, and defines specific responsibilities for all levels of personnel in the upstream organization. All new employees and worksite supervisors are provided with safety orientation and training in identification, assessment and control of potential workplace hazards. We maintain comprehensive corporate and site specific emergency response plans, and test them regularly to ensure personnel are adequately trained to effectively handle emergencies and protect the public.

Highlights:

• Harvest continues to maintain its Platinum-level status in the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers’ (CAPP) Stewardship program. Harvest is committed to the Stewardship reporting framework which focuses on continuous improvement and reporting of environmental, health, safety and social performance.          
• Harvest completed a 2006 Greenhouse Gas emission baseline in which 62 facilities meet the threshold for mandated emission reduction requirements through the Federal government’s existing regulatory framework, positioning us to meet both the provincial and federal future targets for GHG reductions.
• Harvest completed the installation of gas conservation projects in its Hay River and Lloydminster Regions which will significantly reduce both flaring and venting of gas in 2009.  In Hay River there will be an estimated 60% reduction in flaring with an additional reduction expected by year end.  In the Lloydminster Region an estimated 60% of the vented gas was conserved in the end of 2008.
• Harvest’s fugitive emission detection and control plan will be fully implemented by the end of 2009 and is predicted to show positive economic results and significant GHG reductions.
• Harvest participated in the industry initiative Safety Stand Down in which senior executives visit frontline workers at their worksites to discuss safety issues. Approximately 26 field sites were visited and over 200 personnel attended the events which provides a forum for safety discussion and feedback.
• The Harvest Corporate Emergency Response plan was updated to meet the revised regulatory requirements set forth by the ERCB. This update included the establishment of a emergency command centre and corporate emergency response team.
• With 55 well-site reclamations completed and submitted for certification in 2008 and over 200 ongoing reclamation projects Harvest continues to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability and its belief that good environmental stewardship is a critical component of our day to day business.

Downstream EH&S

The North Atlantic refinery has an integrated management system which incorporates environmental, health, and safety considerations. The key components of this continuous improvement program include job safety analysis, incident investigations, risk management, detailed equipment inspections, work permitting, as well as maintaining in-house government-certified inspectors and Canadian Registered Safety Professionals. Refinery employees receive regular training in first aid, fire prevention / protection, and oil spill and emergency response. We regularly perform stack sampling, soil, vegetation, and fresh and ocean water tests. We also have monitoring stations to record the air quality in three adjacent communities as well as at the refinery fence line. North Atlantic externally reports environmental performance through periodic meetings and emails to the Community Liaison Committee (CLC), which represents all of the communities adjacent to the refinery, as well as government regulators.

Highlights

• October 26, 2008 marked the 2-year anniversary of Harvest’s acquisition of North Atlantic and the achievement of record safety performance. In the first 24-months of Harvest’s ownership, the downstream employees accumulated 2.6 million person-hours of occupational exposure and suffered only 1 lost-time accident (“LTA”). This represents an LTA frequency rate of 0.07 per 200,000 person-hours of exposure, which compares to an industry average of 0.40.
• For the calendar year 2008, North Atlantic refinery employees also achieved a total recordable accident frequency rate of 1.03 per 200,000 person-hours of exposure, which is a new North Atlantic record and compares to an industry average of 1.20.
• From an industrial hygiene standpoint, North Atlantic expanded its comprehensive employee monitoring, sampling, and testing protocol to include Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (“NORM”) and benzene exposures.
• There were no regulatory compliance issues such as air or effluent water quality violations at North Atlantic in 2008.