Bear Head LNG facility has labour agreement
Richmond County project would require hundreds of workers during construction
A deal has been struck that will ensure labour stability between the proponents of a liquefied natural gas project in Richmond County and the Cape Breton Building and Construction Trades Council.
The proposed $5-billion Bear Head LNG facility, outside Point Tupper, signed a memorandum of agreement with the council and the Nova Scotia Construction Labour Relations Association Ltd. on July 17.
It means the various trades needed for the project will abide by negotiated wages and will not strike or be locked out for the duration of construction, no matter how long it might take, said Jack Wall, president of the Cape Breton Building and Construction Trades Council, in an interview Wednesday.
It’s expected the massive construction project will need hundreds of skilled tradespeople over the next several years.
The project has received all required construction and environmental permits as well as federal approval for a licence to export LNG and import natural gas from the United States.
Bear Head LNG Corp., a subsidiary of Australia-based Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd., plans to get pipe laid and the terminal up and running by 2022 or 2023.
“It gives (Bear Head LNG) major labour stability and gives them an idea … this is how much labour will cost,” Wall said.
“The only time (the cost of) labour will change is during negotiations with CLRA and the costs will be very minimal — the cost of living or whatever it goes up by.”
All 15 of the building and construction trades have agreed to the terms of the agreement. That includes sheet metal workers, welders, pipefitters, boilermakers, insulators, operating engineers and general labourers.
It was in 2014 that Bear Head LNG Corp. announced it would purchase the partially constructed Anadarko Bear Head LNG terminal for US$11 million and develop it as a liquefied natural gas export facility. Anadarko had announced in 2006 that it wouldn’t proceed with its plans for the site.
The proposed terminal will involve the initial development of an 8-million to 10-million-tonneper-year facility, with the capacity and approvals for expansion.
All necessary approvals have also been received for its sister project, Bear Paw Pipeline Corporation Inc., which is proposing to construct and operate a 62.5-kilometre gas pipeline lateral to connect gas supply to Bear Head LNG. The 327-acre site includes 255 acres onshore and 72 acres offshore.
“Bear Head LNG’s focus is to provide overseas markets, primarily Europe and Western Asia, with access to North America’s natural gas resources based on competitive economics,” John Baguley, chief operating officer for Bear Head LNG, said in a news release.
He noted the company is “uniquely positioned” to provide liquefaction services to Western Canada, northeast U.S., and offshore Nova Scotia resource owners that want to sell natural gas to the global LNG market.
Baguley said the LNG export operations in the province will see “opportunities for hundreds of qualified trade workers in their home region.”