Pipeline hearings conclude
Petrochemical industry, business leaders favour plan; environmentalists oppose it
“What is the lesser evil between oil imported from Algeria, Kazakhstan, Angola and Brent, and oil from Western Canada?”
INDUSTRY POLICY MINISTER ÉLIANE ZAKAïB
QUEBEC — National Assembly hearings on a proposal by Enbridge Inc. to reverse its 9B pipeline, to bring western crude oil to Montreal’s remaining oil refinery, concluded Wednesday, with Industry Policy Minister Éliane Zakaïb saying “we must choose the lesser evil.”
“From here it isn’t easy,” Zakaïb said, after thanking participants. “What is the lesser evil between oil imported from Algeria, Kazakhstan, Angola and Brent, and oil from Western Canada?
“What is the lesser evil between a pipeline? Rail cars? Tanker ships?”
Zakaïb has been supportive of the Enbridge reversal, because it would bring to Montreal’s petrochemical sector Western Canada crude now about $11 cheaper a barrel than imports.
The committee meets Thursday to prepare its report, due Friday.
The National Energy Board has concluded its hearings and is expected to rule in the new year whether the Enbridge reversal proposal may go ahead.
The NEB did not consider the environmental or socioeconomic impact of the reversing the pipeline. Quebec held its own hearings with the hope Enbridge will respect its recommendations.
Liberal Gerry Sklavou- nos said he would have liked more time than the six days of hearings and chided the Parti Québécois government for failing to present its views at the NEB hearings.
Sklavounos said the “longterm viability” of Montreal’s petrochemical industry is at stake, noting that workers from that sector appealed to the committee to approve the Enbridge plan.
Business groups also favoured the Enbridge plan, with Michel Leblanc, president of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, telling the committee the choice is between importing oil from countries that may be politically unstable or using Canadian oil.
Environmentalists, citizens groups and aboriginal witnesses told the committee the Enbridge plan is unsafe, potentially harmful to the environment and even questioned its economic benefits. Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said Enbridge should not get a “blank cheque.”
Amir Khadir, of Québec solidaire, said in his concluding remarks that he sides with the opponents, calling Enbridge “a multiple repeat offender” which does not always respect regulatory and safety requirements and is responsible for the rupture of a similar reversed pipeline through Michigan, which spilled over three million litres of oil into the Kalamazoo River in 2010.
Khadir noted that Suncor Inc., operator of Montreal’s only remaining oil refinery, also has an interest in Alberta’s oilsands and wants to export that heavy oil, suggesting the Enbridge pipeline could be used for that purpose.
The Québec solidaire MNA noted a study by American pipeline expert Richard Kuprewicz, who found parallels with the Kalamazoo spill. Kuprewicz predicts a greater than 90 per cent chance the 9B line would rupture after the reversal. The line runs from Hamilton across Ontario before it enters Quebec, crosses the Ottawa River, arriving in Montreal’s east end.
Kuprewicz says only hydrostatic testing — pumping water under pressure through the pipeline — can detect flaws that would lead to ruptures, but Enbridge says its in-line testing, similar to a hospital MRI, is adequate
Zakaïb and Sklavounos questioned witnesses on the testing controversy.
Brigid Rowan, of the Goodman Group environmental consultants, says with liability insurance of about $700 million, Enbridge could not cover the damages from a major pipeline rupture.