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Shrinking the field Canada’s NEB applies new federal legislation in limiting intervener status at Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain expansion hearings Gary Park For Petroleum News
The Canadian government’s new rules to expedite the regulatory phase of large-scale energy projects and eliminate repetitive presentations are getting their first test as Kinder Morgan prepares for public hearings on its plan to triple capacity on the Trans Mountain pipeline to the British Columbia coast.
For those accustomed to stonewalling the regulatory process the change of rules limiting participation to those directly affected by a project or those with relevant expertise or information, is taking a heavy toll on their game plans.
Of the 2,118 individuals and organizations who applied for intervener status at the hearings, the National Energy Board said it “considered each application and has determined that 400 will participate as interveners and 1,250 as commenters,” giving them the right to submit a comment letter to the NEB without participating directly in the hearings.
They include First Nations, the Alberta Federation of Labor which opposes the export of raw bitumen to Asian refineries, B.C. Nature, B.C. Wildlife Federation, Living Oceans, Raincoast Foundation, BP Canada, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia and several major cities.
The Canadian government’s environment, aboriginal affairs and fisheries and oceans departments will also have intervener status, along with the British Columbia and Alberta governments.
Some relegated to commenter status Of the applications received, 452 that requested intervener status were relegated to commenter status, while another 468 were denied participation, including Kennedy Stewart, a British Columbia Member of Parliament from the opposition New Democratic Party, the Business Council of British Columbia, the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives and the Canadian Natural Resource Alliance.
The 400 full participants will be allowed to question experts and company officials and present their evidence.
The NEB will hear aboriginal traditional evidence in August and September and start oral hearings next January, all within the timeframe of 18 months set by the federal government for a final recommendation from the energy regulator no later than July 2, 2015.
The hearings will examine 12 issues, including potential environmental, socio-economic, aboriginal, landowner and land use impacts.
The C$5.4 billion project involves twinning the existing Trans Mountain system and increasing capacity to a tanker terminal in Port Metro Vancouver and refineries in Washington State to 890,000 barrels per day of oil sands bitumen from 300,000 bpd, primarily targeting new markets in Asia.
Objection to limits Stewart represents the Burnaby area, which will be crossed by the pipeline, in the Canadian House of Commons.
He said far too many applicants got rejected or got limited status by the NEB, dismissing the board’s claim that 78 percent who got applied were accepted.
Stewart said the NEB’s estimate is “deceptive” based on its claim that 78 percent “were not kicked out of the process, many were downgraded from interveners to commenters,” noting that interveners can call witnesses, make oral statements and submit evidence, while commenters can “only send a single letter.”
He said many landowners along the pipeline right of way have been excluded, even though their properties could be expropriated, or crossed by the pipeline.
Caitlyn Vernon, campaigns director for the Sierra Club of B.C., said the NEB’s selection process is “profoundly undemocratic (and is) deliberately designed to silence the legitimate voices of British Columbians. This is a rigged process.”
NEB: Focus on affected parties The NEB said the new federal legislation “is meant to avoid parties that may be affected by a project from being ‘lost in the crowd’ of parties whose issues are unrelated to a specific project.”
It said the amendments to the National Energy Board Act will promote fairness and efficiency in the review process.
The pressing need for the Trans Mountain expansion among oil sands producers has been reinforced by Imperial Oil, which is testing 22 refineries with diluted bitumen from its C$12.9 billion Kearl operation in northeastern Alberta.
Chief Executive Officer Rich Kruger said “a couple” of cargoes have been shipped to a refinery in Malaysia via the existing Trans Mountain pipeline, adding Imperial’s name to Husky Energy and Cenovus Energy which have made their own shipments to Asia in recent months. All three are signed up as potential shippers with Kinder Morgan.
Kruger said the Kearl bitumen has been well received in the market, adding that refiners are “not having operational issues” with the crude.
But he conceded Imperial is still working to remove manufacturing and installation-related hitches at Kearl, which started production almost a year ago and averaged 70,000 bpd in the first quarter of 2014, up 18,000 bpd from the final quarter of 2013, but short of nameplate capacity by 40,000 bpd.
Imperial is counting on a smoother startup for the second phase of Kearl, which is due on stream in 2015 to double output to 220,000 bpd.
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