Plan B to move oilsands crude via rail system ‘ underhanded,’ says group

A task force report has been handed in to the B. C. and Alberta governments that examines the idea of transporting oilsands crude via rail if proposed pipelines don’t get the green light, government documents show.

It’s an idea the environmental group ForestEthics calls “underhanded.”

It’s a “backdoor way for industry to bring tankers to the coast without the same sort of public oversight or public process that we’ve had around the Enbridge pipeline or would have around the Kinder Morgan pipeline,” said Ben West, campaign director for ForestEthics.

A joint provincial working group was announced by premiers Christy Clark and Alison Redford in July to develop recommendations related to energy exports and the opening of new export markets for products like bitumen, including pipeline and rail transport. Among topics also to be addressed were spills, fiscal and economic benefits and First Nations rights.

Two projects propose to bring oil to the B. C. coast: Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline and Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain expansion. Northern Gateway recently received approval from a federal panel, and the final decision now rests with Prime Minister Harper’s Conservative government.

The working group’s terms of reference noted rail can be considered a viable alternative to pipeline movement based on costs of transport. “If pipelines are not developed, rail will step into the void to deliver bitumen to the West Coast,” said the terms of reference.

West, who has not seen the working group’s report, said transporting oil by rail raises safety questions.