Pipeline hearings done in Prince George
For nearly two months a large chunk of Northern Gateway's application to build a pipeline through northern B.C. has been laid bare, poked and prodded by opponents and other interveners.
Through cross-examination they've tried to flesh out more details of how exactly the company proposes to connect Alberta's oilsands with Kitimat via a 1,177-km dual pipeline to ship oil west and condensate east. They've brought up concerns on everything from what the pipeline means to the western toad to the process used to select the type of steel the company will use to build the pipeline.
Yet after weeks upon weeks of questions and answers being lobbed back and forth across the hearing room, there seems to be little consensus as to what has been achieved.
Barry Robinson, a lawyer for ForestEthics Advocacy, Living Oceans Society and Raincoast Conservation Foundation said despite the length of time spent asking questions, the answers his clients were seeking simply weren't there.
"It seems like Enbridge is delaying a lot of things until their project design stage," he said. "I wonder how do you evaluate the risk when so many of these design things are left to later in the process."
Northern Gateway see things differently.
Spokesman Paul Stanway said the company has found the process useful because it gave them the chance to address the issue in a less emotionally charged environment.
"When you're making a decision on something like this, I think you don't want the public debate to be driven simply by emotion," he said. "I think you want it to be fact-based, science-based, so people can understand there's a rational decision being made."
From Northern Gateway's perspective, the Prince George hearings helped the company gain more of a social licence locally to go ahead with the project.
"Certainly in this community I think we are [gaining social licence], I think there might be a question mark about how widely that message is getting out beyond Prince George," Stanway said. "We need to encourage the public to get more involved and more engaged in the process and understand what's happening."
From his standpoint, Robinson hasn't seen any shift of support in favour of the project.
"I think generally, particularly in British Columbia, people seem to be opposed," he said. "They seem to recognize the potential risk to wildlife, to rivers, to salmon-bearing rivers and to the marine coast outweigh the benefits of this project."
The Prince George phase of the hearings wrapped up Wednesday at the Columbus Community Centre with the coalition and the Haisla Nation both cross-examining the second federal government witness panel to take the stand.
Among the topics discussed were the maps Northern Gateway produced showing the landslide risks in the areas along the pipeline. Natural Resources Canada expert Andre Blais-Stevens found fault with the way Northern Gateway has presented some of its evidence.
"I think it would be more effective if height of land was clearly shown on the maps," she said under questioning by Robinson.
The maps are used by risk management experts to find the safest route for the pipeline.
Robinson also wanted to know how the proposed changes to the federal navigable waters act might change Transport Canada's assessment process for the pipeline. Witness Bob Gowe wasn't comfortable providing specifics because the legislation is still before Parliament, but he said if it becomes law "an assessment of navigability would no longer be required."
The Haisla spent the bulk of their time asking about how cathodic protection - using a current to prevent corrosion - changes in permafrost conditions as well as the possibility that the pipeline could be susceptible to corrosion. The latter concern is something Natural Resources Canada expert witness Bill Santos said is something the company should be on the lookout for.
"It's fair to say it's a potential outcome to watch out for and mitigate against," he said.
The scene will shift to Prince Rupert on Dec. 10 for the opening of what's expected to be an even longer set of hearings than Prince George. The marine aspect of the plan will be the main issue up for questioning.
"Certainly the safety of the tanker terminal and the safety of tanker traffic in and out of the Kitimat Arm and the Douglas Channel is going to be the focus there," Robinson said.
Northern Gateway will be pointing to increases in safety standards in the tanker industry over the past three decades.
"It's a very safe industry at this point," Stanway said. "I think we need to get that message across and show people we've done our homework and we've done our due diligence."
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