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Kinder Morgan faces barrage Vancouver municipal governments lead regulatory challenges for Trans Mountain expansion; Burnaby would deny services in spill Gary Park For Petroleum News
Whatever hopes Kinder Morgan had of a smooth passage through the regulatory process with its Trans Mountain pipeline expansion are rapidly disintegrating.
Even with the benefit of new federal legislation that shortens environmental reviews and favorable decisions by Canada’s National Energy Board, the C$5.4 billion plan to increase capacity from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 bpd is encountering the same headwinds as those that have slowed a final decision on Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline.
Kinder Morgan is facing a wall of resistance from the City of Vancouver and the City of Burnaby - two of the largest municipal governments in the Metropolitan Vancouver region - who are challenging the prospect of greater volumes of oil sands bitumen being shipped to a loading terminal, resulting in hundreds of additional tankers operating in Port Metro Vancouver.
Environmental organizations, landowners, business groups and academics have started a constitutional challenge of the new NEB procedures, Vancouver city council is expected to approve a staff report outlining grounds for opposing the new pipeline and Burnaby city council has threatened to withhold emergency services in the event of an oil spill.
That position came just days after the Lower Mainland Local Government Association, representing 33 municipalities and three regional districts, narrowly voted to oppose the proposed pipeline.
Burnaby aid at issue “The NEB has constitutional power to ram a pipeline wherever they want,” said Gregory McDade, from a Vancouver law firm that represents Burnaby in the Kinder Morgan hearings. “But they don’t have the ability to compel the city to provide assistance.
“Trans Mountain seems to have assumed in its application that the City of Burnaby would be largely responsible for fire, police, health and emergency services” to aid in the event of a pipeline rupture or spill, he said in regulatory filings.
“However, Trans Mountain has not consulted with or obtained any agreements or service contracts respecting its existing facilities and proposed project and none are contemplated.
“If Trans Mountain does not have a social license and consent from Burnaby, those services may not be made available,” McDade said.
The council also said it could refuse to issue road-construction permits sought by Kinder Morgan for ongoing maintenance work once a pipeline was completed.
It said Kinder Morgan had failed to provide a case “as to why expanding the pipeline, tank facilities and marine terminal in a major metropolitan area is the best alternative or in the public interest.”
Company argues minimal impact The company said the impact of a new pipeline would be minimal because it would be installed on existing rights of way such as power transmission lines, thus minimizing damage to a densely populated area.
“We have a long-standing relationship with the City of Burnaby and have been operating responsibly in the community for 60 years,” said Scott Stoness, Kinder Morgan’s vice president, regulatory.
The City of Vancouver’s staff report said the Kinder Morgan application lacks details, especially relating to health risks and argued that the company’s worst-case spill scenarios are not realistic.
According to a poll conducted in January, 48 percent of British Columbians support the expansion and 43 percent are opposed, with 11 percent undecided, up from 3 percent a year earlier.
Courts last resort Municipal governments have little power to block the project if it receives federal government approval, leaving the courts as their last resort - an option Vancouver said it will consider to protect the public and city interests.
Deputy City Manager Sadhu Johnston told council that Vancouver’s efforts spanning many generations to build a green economy could be jeopardized.
He said the NEB review process is stacked in favor of the pipeline and against the public, noting that members of the public who are not listed as interveners can’t even file a letter.
In the meantime, the city has filed more than 400 questions, while Burnaby has submitted 1,500 questions of its own. The British Columbia government has added 70 questions.
A spokeswoman for Kinder Morgan said the company does not expect to attract universal support, but remains “committed to the regulatory process and to being open and providing opportunities for community engagement.”
The concerns about Trans Mountain’s plans extend beyond Canadian borders, with the state of Washington Department of Ecology seeking information on C$750 million in spill liability insurance held by the company.
It has asked the NEB whether Trans Mountain would be liable to the state for natural resource damages and still response costs.
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