Study could have altered Gateway report: scientist
Information in a new report on what would happen if diluted bitumen spilled in the marine environment could have changed the way the federal Joint Review Panel examining the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline reached its conclusions, according to a witness for one intervener group.
Raincoast Conservation Foundation senior scientist Paul Paquet said a report released this week by Environment Canada that showed that diluted bitumen could sink in saltwater in some conditions could have pushed the three-member panel to recommend different conditions for the plan to build a pipeline and export terminal to ship oilsands products to Kitimat.
"It may not have changed their ultimate decision to recommend the project be approved but it could have changed some of the contingencies, requirements and expectations for Enbridge," he Paquet said.
The report found that under some spill conditions diluted bitumen could attach itself to sediment in the water and sink to the bottom of the ocean, making clean up more difficult or even impossible.
Exactly how diluted bitumen, one of the primary substances the Northern Gateway pipeline and associated tankers will be designed to transport, reacts when spilled in saltwater was a significant point of debate during environmental assessment hearings in 2012 and 2013. Last month, the panel recommended the federal government approve the project, subject to 209 conditions.
Federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq and her cabinet colleagues must make a decision within the next six months on whether or not a certificate should be approved to allow further design work and construction to proceed. Paquet said the cabinet ministers need to take the new report into account when they make their decision.
"Part of the problem with the whole process is it's important to incorporate new information as it becomes available even if it contradicts what was available previously and I don't know if there's a route for that kind of accommodation," he said.
Northern Gateway manager of emergency management Owen McHugh said the company believes the findings of the Environment Canada study are consistent with the evidence it presented at the hearings. He said even lighter oils could sink if the right energy, sediments and other factors are present.
"I think it's a potential fate you can recognize with basically any type of oil," McHugh said. "I don't think this is a property unique to diluted bitumen, I think that these sediment interactions are actually important weathering process for any oil type. We're focused on prompt response and quick clean up and that doesn't change."
McHugh said the viscosity of diluted bitumen means it's more difficult to break into smaller particles, which he said is required before the oil can adhere to sediment and sink.
Knowing how a certain type of oil will react when spilled is important because it gives those conducting clean up efforts information on how they should proceed. While the Environment Canada study showed diluted bitumen could sink, it didn't conclude that it will sink in every circumstance.
Variables including the type of product spilled, the salinity of the water and the level of particles in the water all need to be factored in to determine what will happen when a spill occurs. McHugh said the company has committed to develop models that can be used in the event of spill so clean up crews can quickly figure out what will happen.
"If you have those systems set up, it can be done very rapidly at the time of the spill because you know the conditions," he said.
Paquet is more skeptical that the information will be available quickly and said clean up crews would have to assume the worst-case scenario, which could include the diluted bitumen suspended in the water column or even sinking.
Now that Environment Canada has confirmed diluted bitumen could sink in the ocean, McHugh said Northern Gateway would like to see more research done on how the conditions that could allow that to happen are created in the ocean. The company will create a scientific advisory committee later this year and if the project is approved by the federal government it must present an update to the National Energy Board on how it plans to do its research by next year.
Studying how those conditions exist in reality could be valuable, according to Paquet, but he's curious how that type of research could actually be conducted.
"Clearly you can't do that in a real world situation without doing some damage," Paquet said. "A lot of this projection is based on best information available. I've been sort of puzzled over that, what else can they do beyond what's been done now and the theoretical understanding that's also been informed by other spills."