From: "Tom Hackney" Subject: GSX Hearing Day 12 -- Tuesday 11 March Date: March 11, 2003 GSX Hearing Day 12 -- Tuesday 11 March Glenn Thornton for GSXCCC and the Marine Coalition cross-examined GSX PL witness panel 7 all morning and for half an hour in the afternoon. Panel 7 was for safety/hazard matters. The drift of Thornton's questions were that GSX PL does not have a pro-active "cohesive, overall" safety program or safety-based performance standards (-- this is my non-technical interpretation). GSX PL essentially stonewalled on this issue. We seem to be hampered in addressing this issue fully by the fact that the Panel has not required that GSX PL file its safety/emergency plan for consideration in this review. Rather, the Panel and the NEB seem to accept the view that the applicant first gets its pipeline approved, then develops and files its safety plan. This seems to me to disregard issue no. 5 on the list of issues, which concerns safety of design, construction and operation. Glenn got the applicant to undertake to file some numbers in relation to the risk assessment -- we will hopefully get these by Thursday. Still no sign of the levelized cost comparison between GSX/VIGP and the sub-sea cables alternative, as promised to Steve Miller some time last week, or was it the week before. There were one or two questions after Glenn Thornton, then Panel 7 stood down. Panel 8 was sworn in to address public consultation issues and land acquisition issues. Ian Smyth asked some very pointed questions about the fact that Gordon Kier undertook to return several times to Saturna to advise islanders of the progress and design of GSX (words like, so often you will be sick of us, are alleged to have been used); yet since the initial visit, GSX PL did not return to Saturna, except when the Panel went to get public input on scoping. The hearing was adjourned early, as there were no more intervenors to question the panel. By special request of some intervenors, Panel 8 will be recalled on Thursday morning (9:30) to allow more intervenors to question them. I'm not sure if this is a special favour to specific intervenors (GSXCCC, Shadybrook, Mairi McLennan) or a general undertaking for all intervenors, so any intervenors who want to question panel 8 may want to double check on this. The hearing will reconvene on Wednesday at 9:00, with Panel 5 being returned to address marine mammals and the effects of pipeline noise on them. Then the intervenors' witness panels will be called. Then the federal witness panel will be called. Not a lot of cross-examination is anticipated for the latter. Tom Hackney BC Chapter - Sierra Club of Canada and GSX Concerned Citizens Coalition (250) 381-4463; fax (250) 381-4407 thackney@island.net