Critics target Enbridge pipeline

DAVE EBNER
Globe and Mail
20-Apr-2006

Shipping crude oil along B.C. coast seen as a main roadblock to Gateway project

CALGARY -- Opposition to Enbridge Inc.'s $4-billion Gateway pipeline project is mounting over the prospect of 156 tankers a year travelling through narrow channels on the British Columbia coast to export oil sands crude to China.

"Each time one tanker passes, it's a risk," said Guujaaw, a well-known aboriginal leader and president of the Council of the Haida Nation on the Queen Charlotte Islands. "And the risk is not borne by people in Calgary but by people on the coast. It's certainly not borne by people in New York, where they're buying stock in Enbridge. And it's certainly not the Chinese."

Guujaaw's comments in an interview this week are the latest rumblings of discontent over Gateway, following accusations by some first nations along the route in B.C. that said they haven't been adequately consulted about the project, which led to the threat of a lawsuit. And a poll early in the year showed many B.C. residents are against oil tankers right on the coast.

Calgary-based Enbridge plans to file a regulatory application for the Gateway project in the next 10 weeks, proposing an oil export pipeline that would move 400,000 barrels a day, connecting the Alberta oil sands with Kitimat on the B.C. coast. There would also be a second line to import condensate, an ultralight oil of which there is a shortage in Canada and is used to dilute heavy oil sands crude so it can flow in a pipeline.

The company also hopes to sign long-term shipping deals soon, which could include selling a 49-per-cent stake in Gateway to PetroChina International Co. Ltd., a state-owned firm.

In preliminary regulatory documents, Enbridge told the National Energy Board that at least 120 tankers and as many as 156 a year would travel the tight channels out of the town of Kitimat. The company's longer-term vision sees the pipeline's capacity reaching as high as one million barrels a day, suggesting almost daily tanker traffic in the same area where a ferry sank near Hartley Bay a month ago.

The tankers that would be used feature double hulls and are larger and hardier than the Exxon Valdez, which hit a reef in 1989 in Alaska and spilled about 240,000 barrels.

Weather in the Kitimat coastal region can be severe, with research showing waves can reach as high as 25 metres and winds of about 150 kilometres an hour during winter storms.

Guujaaw is not alone in concern about tanker traffic. A January poll of 500 British Columbians by Mustel Group found that three out of four respondents supported a ban on oil tankers in the province's coastal waters.

Will Horter, executive director of Dogwood Initiative, an environmental group in Victoria, said such opposition means Gateway will become a difficult political problem for the federal Conservative government, including Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources, whose riding is near Victoria.

In February, the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council said it might file a lawsuit in federal court over a lack of Crown consultation. A group called the First Nation Review Process Steering Committee, which includes Guujaaw, has also been formed to design an aboriginal-led assessment of Gateway because of skepticism about the National Energy Board.

"They generally don't say no to a project," said Guujaaw, who uses one name.

For Enbridge, Gateway is the company's most important project to increase sales and profits. In its preliminary regulatory filing, the company said it would consider "some of the potential environmental effects of shipping" in its formal application, although it said Gateway itself "does not include shipping."

Glenn Herchak, an Enbridge spokesman, said it will be up to the federal government to decide how to assess the Gateway application and define the scope of the review. He added that oil tankers are far safer in terms of hull design than the ferry that sank last month and noted that every tanker would have at least two pilots with experience on the B.C. coast. One of those pilots would be on the navigation bridge at all times to ensure the tankers stay on course.

"It's important for people to understand the safety record of these types of tankers are excellent," Mr. Herchak said.

Another question facing Gateway is whether a long-time moratorium on offshore B.C. oil and gas exploration also applies to oil tankers on coastal channels. Environmental groups including Dogwood and Pembina Institute sent letters last week to the National Energy Board and Mr. Lunn saying the ban does apply to tankers.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Lunn said the minister recognizes there are diverse views but couldn't comment further.

B.C. Energy Minister Richard Neufeld said in an interview yesterday that he doesn't have a yes or no answer to the question.