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Racing to head off concerns Canadian government plans to map Pacific Ocean floor to prepare for spills, while British Columbians’ support for project shrinks Gary Park For Petroleum News
The Canadian government is edging towards the most pivotal decision yet on Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline, with no indication which way it is leaning beyond Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s suggestion that the determining factor will be “expert advice” on the overriding environmental concerns.
From the outset the project has been mired in the consequences of an accident on open water and whether Canada is equipped to handle such a spill.
The latest sign of a government initiative occurred Sept. 4 when Fisheries and Oceans Canada announced a request for proposals from firms capable of mapping the ocean floor along the British Columbia coast.
The federal department said it wants to map the floor of the Pacific Ocean around the Haida Gwaii archipelago and the Queen Charlotte and Johnstone straits, viewed as some of the most treacherous waters anywhere in the world.
It also wants to update the current map for the Strait of Georgia, between the British Columbia mainland and Vancouver Island, which is also tied to vessels sailing to and from Washington state.
Expected increase in traffic The tender said the transportation of oil and hazardous and noxious substances is expected to increase - referring indirectly to Northern Gateway’s plans to export 525,000 barrels per day of crude bitumen and import 193,000 bpd of condensates as well as the plans to triple shipments of bitumen on the Trans Mountain system to almost 900,000 bpd.
The department said the map database would be used to help responders in the event of an environmental emergency.
The call said the project must be completed by the end of March 2015 because “time is of the essence,” further reinforcing the concerns of those who argue events are moving too quickly.
On a related front, the Vancouver Fire Department wants to replace its four aging fire boats with two new and more powerful vessels, but the C$3 million plan has yet to be discussed by city council.
Port Metro Vancouver is one of the busiest ports in North America and faces a tripling of crude tanker movements if Kinder Morgan gets the go-ahead to expand Trans Mountain.
Deputy Vancouver Fire Chief Mark Engler said the proposed heavier fire boats would be able to wok safely in the Strait of Georgia, while the existing vessels have trouble even navigating around the port entrance.
He also said the Trans Mountain plans don’t even factor in to his department’s plans, noting that Vancouver would only respond if asked for help by the Canadian Coast Guard.
“It’s not the city’s responsibility to spend millions and millions of dollars on boats and barges ... to do something that is not in our mandate,” said Engler.
Support slipping While these debates gather momentum, support for Northern Gateway shows signs of slipping in the latest Insights West poll.
The Vancouver-based pollster, which started tracking the public sentiment on the project in January 2013, when a survey found 35 percent of British Columbians supported Northern Gateway and 61 percent were opposed.
Support rose to 42 percent in November 2013, then dropped back to 38 percent.
The polls have also tracked Albertans, where 65 percent of residents now back the project, compared with 75 percent in January 2013, a shift that adds weight to the growing sentiment that the project should simply be scrapped.
Insights West Vice President Mario Canseco said the latest poll shows that even after the Canadian government endorsed the project earlier this year, the needle did not move in favor of the project in British Columbia, despite the provincial government’s acknowledgement of economic benefits.
“British Columbians remain far more concerned about oil spills, increased tanker traffic and the environmental impact of construction,” he said.
Just after the Liberal party of Premier Christy Clark was re-elected in May 2013, an internal government report said Enbridge’s response to government cross-examination during public hearings was “too often incomplete and lacking in commitment.”
“The company needs to show British Columbians that is has practical solutions to the environmental risks and concerns that have been raised. So far, it has not done that ... the company is not giving us much reason to have confidence that it can deliver on its promises,” the brief said.
More damning still, the government paper said Enbridge had not demonstrated since its massive Kalamazoo spill in Michigan in 2010 that it has learning “from its mistakes in order to avoid spills.”
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