Canada's National Energy Board approved the routing and construction plans proposed by the Canadian unit of Kinder Morgan Inc. in four of the first 11 hearings into the siting of the C$7.4 billion Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion.
In a series of decisions issued Feb. 6, the NEB agreed with Kinder Morgan's detailed siting of the pipeline within the approved right of way. In one ruling, the board ordered the inclusion of a landowner's water well in an inventory of wells made by the company. In the case of complaints filed by neighboring landowners, the company and the board committed to informing those people of any changes that would affect them.
Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd.'s proposal to almost triple the capacity of the Trans Mountain crude transportation system from Alberta to the British Columbia coast has been fraught with political and regulatory wrangling. Although the Canadian government has approved the line's route, dozens of intervenors have swamped the siting hearings to raise objections including environmental and safety concerns and the impact on property values. In the four decisions issued Feb. 6, the NEB said those matters were dealt with before the line was approved and kept its focus on siting and construction issues.
"In total, 11 detailed route hearings were held for segments 1 and 2, and 18 other objections to the detailed route in these areas were withdrawn," the NEB said in a Feb. 6 statement. "Decisions for the remaining seven hearings in these segments are expected in the coming weeks."
Kinder Morgan Canada's Westridge Terminal in Burnaby, British Columbia. Source: Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. |
The NEB has split the line into seven segments for the purpose of the siting hearings. Segments 1 and 2 are part of the pipeline's route through Alberta, and those hearings were held in November and December 2017. Kinder Morgan has been approved by the board to start construction at its Westridge Terminal on British Columbia's populous Lower Mainland, but all other segments require hearings before construction can begin. Hearings for Segment 7 in Burnaby, British Columbia, were held in late January, and hearings in the province's interior will be held beginning in late February.
Neighbor vs. neighbor
The proposal to boost the capacity of the 1,147-kilometer line to 890,000 barrels per day from 300,000 bbl/d has sparked a trade battle between Alberta and British Columbia.
In an attempt to scuttle the expansion, British Columbia proposed regulations to cap the amount of oil sands crude that could be transported through the province. In retaliation, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, whose government takes in royalties from oil sands production, walked away from talks to buy hydroelectricity from province-owned BC Hydro and Power Authority. On Feb. 6, she announced that Alberta's province-owned liquor distributor would ban wine from British Columbia, effective immediately. The move amounts to a provincial boycott of those products, which had an estimated value of C$70 million to British Columbia wineries in 2017.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is ultimately responsible for the line's approval, said his government will make sure the expansion is built. The NEB has set up an alternative hearing system to approve local permits for the expansion after a British Columbia municipality stonewalled Kinder Morgan Canada. The federal government, through the NEB, has the constitutional authority to oversee the permitting, construction and operation of interprovincial and export energy projects.
Notley said her government is putting pressure on both governments to get the pipeline built. "We are actively preparing measures to get Ottawa to step up and B.C. to back down," she said in the Feb. 6 news conference where she announced the wine boycott. (National Energy Board dockets MH-010-2017, MH-017-2017, MH-030-2017, MH-060-2017)

