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Kinder Morgan gets rough ride in B.C. Simpcw First Nation asks for six months to assess impact; Burnaby City Council members question plan to add storage tank Gary Park For Petroleum News
The Canadian units of Kinder Morgan are taking a buffeting from affected aboriginals and residents as they seek regulatory approval for plans to expand their crude oil pipeline system from Alberta to the British Columbia coast and U.S. Pacific Northwest.
The Simpcw First Nation of central British Columbia wants Canada’s National Energy Board to delay its verdict on the Terasen Pipelines (Trans Mountain) proposal by six months.
Now members of the Burnaby City Council in the Greater Vancouver region are stalling a proposal to expand the capacity of a tank farm in their jurisdiction.
The so-called TMX-2 expansion plan involves a C$400 million addition of about 40 miles of pipeline to hike capacity of the Trans Mountain line by 40,000 barrels per day to 300,000 bpd by November 2008, then move to 400,000 bpd.
It is a crucial link in the rapid increase in Western Canadian crude to 3.65 million bpd by 2010 from 2.22 million bpd in 2004 as part of the anticipated growth in oil sands production.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and producers Imperial Oil, Shell Canada, ConocoPhillips Canada, Chevron Canada and Nexen told the National Energy Board it is of crucial importance because of current apportionment on the line and the expected surge in demand for space.
Simpcw First Nation wants six months to assess But the Simpcw community said it was not aware of its rights until it hired legal help in July.
It claims “procedural fairness” requires that it receive six months to assess and respond to the impact of the project on its traditional land.
Those assertions were challenged by Terasen lawyer David Holgate who told the board the Simpcw participated in a two-year consultation process and a parallel special program designed specifically for aboriginal input.
He said the “project is not just needed, it is needed without delay.”
Nick Schultz, a lawyer for CAPP, said the Simpcw was engaging in an “unreasonable attempt” to stop the application moving towards an orderly conclusion.
He said six months’ of lost time would cause a “huge economic cost to our country and it is the producers who stand on the front lines.”
The board reserved its decision, without giving any indication when it might rule.
Terasen Pipelines — part of the British Columbia operation acquired by Kinder Morgan last year for C$6.9 billion — has access to towers, which separate the crude into various petroleum fractions, with capacity of 633,000 bpd in Washington State’s Puget Sound area and 2.1 million bpd of crude tower capacity in Washington, Oregon, Alaska and California.
In its submission to the National Energy Board, Terasen said the demand for Canadian crude is likely to grow in Washington as Alaska North Slope supplies decline.
City Council questions crude storage tank Meanwhile, Burnaby City Council is taking a fresh look at Terasen’s plans for a 220,000 barrel crude storage tank at the Burnaby Mountain tank farm. Councilor Nick Volkow, one of four members of the nine-member council to raise concerns, said he was more concerned about the proposal coming from Kinder Morgan than he would have been had it come from Terasen before it was acquired.
“Kinder Morgan has a sorry (environmental) record when it comes to operating in its home base of Texas, so I’m prepared to give this application a lot more scrutiny,” he said.
Councilor Pietro Calendino said he was “totally against” the plan because the neighborhood around the tank farm has changed so much in the past 50 years.
Kinder Morgan has said it will comply with all regulations.
The terminal, which opened in 1953, has 13 storage tanks with total capacity of 1.7 million barrels.
In addition to the storage tank planned for 2009, the company said it may apply to add five more tanks in the next few years.
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