Despite a recommendation of federal approval from the National Energy Board (NEB), opponents of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain expansion remain steadfast in their belief that the pipeline project will never break Canadian soil.
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Some First Nations, including the Simpcw in the Interior, are supportive. Eight First Nations, four environmental groups and one labour union launched legal actions aimed at overturning the project’s approval. First Nations in the northwest USA are also opposed and reiterated their opposition Thursday, saying they were “extremely” disappointed with the NEB decision.
The decision prompted immediate outcry from critics, who called on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to block the twinning of the existing pipeline, which carries oil from Alberta to a port in Metro Vancouver. “When it comes to oil tankers on our coast, British Columbians need to have a democratic say”.
The proposal is popular in Western Canada but has encountered stiff opposition in Quebec, where politicians, citizens and ecologists have argued the environmental risks outweigh the economic benefits.
The Trans Mountain pipeline now travels from Edmonton, through Kamloops, down to Burnaby.
“I am really confident in the Canadian Constitution protecting our indigenous rights”. “None of us had any confidence in the process all along”. The expansion would bring capacity to 890,000 barrels a day and increase tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet seven-fold.
Even if B.C. comes on board – and there has been speculation a deal could involve Alberta agreeing to buy B.C. electricity – the project still faces aboriginal court challenges, a plan by environmentalists to force a referendum using B.C.’s initiative legislation, and the threat of civil disobedience during construction.
Alberta’s oil sands producers are desperate to get their product to worldwide markets, where it can fetch a higher price, and are pushing for the construction of new lines to Canada’s east and west coasts.
“What this particular current federal government does is the big unknown”.
January 27, 2016: The federal Liberal government says pipeline projects such as the Trans Mountain expansion will now be assessed in part on the greenhouse gas emissions produced in the extraction and processing of the oil they carry.
We will update this story when the decision is handed down.
“Within the limited constraints of the NEB process I submitted almost 500 questions to Kinder Morgan which focused primarily on the risk and impact of a potential oil spill, the scientific underpinning of the oceanographic analysis used, and the extent of consultation done by the company”, he said quoted in a media release. The pipeline company also operates a pump station and tank farm on Sumas Mountain, just north of the Sumas First Nation.
If the Canadian government approves the project, those conditions should be placed on the project, the board found.
But Kinder Morgan will first have to address 157 engineering, safety, environmental and emergency preparedness conditions.
Environmental regulations including developing a grasslands and wetlands mitigation plans, marine protection plans and reports about how it will construct the Burnaby Mountain tunnel. “This decision is a milestone for the future of Canada”, said CAPP president and CEO Tim McMillan in a statement.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said the city has no faith the board’s conditions will prevent the “inevitable catastrophe” of an oil spill.
“And it found in the case of the southern resident killer whales they are already impacted by the levels of traffic and any additional traffic that might be introduced by the Trans Mountain expansion project would likely be significant”, said Steedman.
“We have set the bar high for a reason”, Polak, the B.C. environment minister, said.
The NEB’s recommendation to approve comes with 157 conditions, up from 145 draft conditions previously circulated.
With files from Rob Shaw and Matt Robinson.
“I think Kinder Morgan will be pleased with the decision”, he said. Its members have voiced concerns about the risk both of an oil spill in B.C. and about the carbon emissions associated both with the production of the oil flowing through the pipeline and with the burning of the fuel at its end source. The analysis would include the total direct emissions generated from construction.
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“People who were involved with this did not believe this process was fair all the way along”.
