First Nations firm looks to Alaska to circumvent B.C.’s tanker ban
Eagle Spirit signs agreement to locate pipeline’s end in old Gold Rush town
A First Nations-led $17-billion project to build an oil pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast has put in motion a backup plan to site its terminal across the border in Alaska to get around an imminent oil tanker ban in British Columbia’s northern coast.
Vancouver-based Eagle Spirit Energy Holdings Ltd. has signed a memorandum of understanding with Roanan Corp., a private landowner in Hyder, an old Gold Rush town on the Alaska side of the Canada/U.S. border at the head of the Portland Canal, to locate the pipeline’s end point.
That’s where tankers could load Canadian oil and sail through the disputed waters of Dixon Entrance, claimed by both Canada and the United States, if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s tanker ban becomes law, project chairman and president Calvin Helin said in an interview.
“It’s a complete answer to the tanker ban,” said Helin, a member of the Lax Kw’alaams band near Prince Rupert who believes Alaska would welcome the plan because of its significant economic benefits.
Construction of the terminal alone would involve an investment of up to $1 billion. An additional $500 million would be spent on spill prevention preparedness, including tugboats, barges and training, Helin said.
It’s the project’s latest salvo against the controversial ban. Indigenous leaders behind Eagle Spirit say the ban is the result of a lobbying campaign by Americanfinanced environmental NGOs and is being pushed through without their consultation and consent. If adopted, it would eliminate immediate and future opportunities for development, they say.
The Eagle Spirit project would transport as much as one million barrels a day of Alberta oil to Asia. More than 30 First Nations from Bruderheim, Alta., through Northern B.C., to Grassy Point, B.C. support the project and would be equity owners. In addition to an oil pipeline, Eagle Spirit involves a pre-approved energy corridor that could accommodate natural gas, power transmission and fibre optic lines.
Under its current plan, the pipeline’s end point and tanker terminal would be located in Grassy Point. If the ban, which is now before Parliament, is implemented, it would effectively prevent the establishment of an oil tanker port in Canadian territory on the Northern B.C. coast, Helin said. The project would then end in the corridor in Hyder, located about 25 kilometres up the coast in Alaska.
Transport Canada has said that it held 75 engagement sessions to discuss the proposed moratorium and that Transport Minister Marc Garneau engaged directly with Indigenous groups.
Eagle Spirit proponents have also launched a fundraising campaign to pay for a legal challenge against the ban, and started an epetition calling on Canada’s Parliament to “withdraw the proposed ban on crude oil tanker traffic off B.C.’s north coast and begin a new process whereby the interests of all affected, especially Indigenous and other communities in the region, are considered concurrently with a robust industry and national economic assessment, which recognizes the importance of ensuring Canada’s world-leading environmentally and socially responsible oil and gas industry can reach the growing demand of global markets.”
Roanan is a private company based in Vancouver that has owned property in Hyder for 40 years. With fewer than 100 residents, the border town is adjacent to Stewart, B.C., with a population of about 300.
It’s a complete answer to the tanker ban. CALVIN HELIN, Eagle Spirit Energy project chairman and president.
Roanan’s president and CEO, Walter Moa, and Helin signed an agreement Jan. 11 to work together on the plan. Moa was not immediately available for comment.
Helin said the plan is in the early stages and discussions with Alaska and others impacted by the plan have just started.
A spokesperson for Alaska governor Bill Walker was not immediately available for comment.
Tankers would sail through Dixon Entrance, south of the Alaska Panhandle and the North Shore of Haida Gwaii. Territorial boundaries have been disputed since 1903.
Under the proposed Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, oil tankers are banned “at ports or marine installations located along British Columbia’s north coast from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaska border.”
The tanker ban is a major obstacle to the project. It was announced by Trudeau in November 2016, at the same time as the Liberal government halted Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway pipeline.
Eagle Spirit is backed by the Aquilini Group of Vancouver and has the support of major Canadian oil producers including Suncor Energy Inc., Cenovus Energy Inc. and Meg Energy Corp. It emerged about five years ago as an alternative to Northern Gateway, which was opposed by First Nations that felt environmental protection and benefits were insufficient. It’s modelled after the Alyeska pipeline in Alaska, built and operated with involvement from the state’s Indigenous people.