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Fresh review for Trans Mountain
Gary Park for Petroleum News
The Canadian government has set a 22-week deadline for the National Energy Board, its chief energy regulator, to review the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in hopes of gaining a final go-ahead for the project.
In making the announcement Sept. 21, Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi and Fisheries and Oceans Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said this new phase will take into account the impact of additional tanker traffic in Pacific waters off British Columbia.
They said the second step, in response to a Federal Court of Appeal ruling in August that overturned approval of the Trans Mountain expansion, will be unveiled in the next few weeks to cover a fresh round of consultations with Indigenous communities.
Sohi said the government will appoint a special marine technical adviser to be part of the NEB’s new review, although that person has yet to be named.
“We are confident this revised plan will allow us to meet the high standards that Canadians expect when it comes to the environment,” he said.
Sohi said the government has yet to decide whether to appeal the federal court verdict but has opted to respond to the court’s findings.
More tankers The review will examine the impact on killer whales of the additional tankers that will sail from Kinder Morgan’s marine terminal in the Port of Vancouver.
Under Kinder Morgan’s plan to increase shipments of crude to 890,000 barrels per day from 300,000 bpd, the number of tankers will go to about 37 a month (34 Aframax class tankers and three barges) from the current five.
In a separate development, Kinder Morgan staged a large emergency spill response drill at the terminal on Sept. 19.
“Our goal is to operate, manage and protect the pipeline system so that our emergency response plans are never used, while being fully prepared for any type of incident,” said Michael Davies, vice president of operations at Trans Mountain.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley was unimpressed with the federal government’s actions.
“We still remain a bit skeptical, as a result we will be watching very closely,” she told a news conference. “Our concern has always been (the prospect) of the NEB process having to restart.”
Shannon Stubbs, natural resources spokesperson for the opposition Conservative Party, said the government has put no timeline on when Indigenous consultations must be completed or when construction on the pipeline might be restarted.
Keith Stewart, an energy strategist with Greenpeace, said the government is merely treating the latest review as a “box-checking exercise,” adding that is not true consultation.
- GARY PARK
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