B.C. wants spill response exercises
TERRACE - The provincial government wants Northern Gateway to "test drive" its claim that it will have a world class spill response system.
During final oral arguments on Monday, provincial lawyer Christopher Jones told the Joint Review Panel it's up to the company behind the $6.5 billion pipeline plan to prove its world-class standard is as good in practice as it is on paper. Jones said the company needs to conduct surprise exercises to ensure it has the capacity to accomplish what it says it can in its application to the National Energy Board.
"The general concern all along has been that a lot of what has been put forward by Northern Gateway as evidence of their spill response capacity is more like plans than actual programs and some of the questions asked today is we actually wanted to test drive spill response plans to make sure they actually work," Geoff Plant, the province's chief legal strategist, told reporters outside the hearing room. "One thing we do know is every water body is unique, every harbour is unique and the pipeline is going to be crossing some terrain that's never been crossed by a pipeline before and there are some unusual geological features so the extent you can get out there and make it real and see if it's working, that would be a step in the right direction."
In its written application, the province suggested conditions that could be imposed if the panel decides to recommend approval. Earlier Monday, Northern Gateway lawyer Richard Neufeld said the company agrees generally with the proposed conditions the province suggested, but said the company took issue with certain requirements about marine response capacity and geographic response plans.
Plant said he was pleased there was some "congruity" on the issue of conditions but said the company still hasn't come far enough.
Jones used less than half of his allotted hour to make his case on Monday and the language he used to criticize the project was less biting than what appeared in the written final argument filed last month. However, Plant said the province's position hasn't changed and it's not ready to give the project its blessing in its current form.
The former attorney general added the province's position could evolve if Northern Gateway provides it the assurances the government requires.
"I think the province is also saying that it may well be that as life goes on, in other contexts, in other ways, Northern Gateway could improve its documentation, improve its research and do a better job of meeting the standards that it has set for itself and the conditions the province has set," Plant said. "We're not arguing this process should be extended to allow Northern Gateway an opportunity to do more work, what we are saying is that the evidence here doesn't meet the standard and Northern Gateway is going to have to do something more, something better, somewhere else to do that."
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