TALKING GATEWAY
New pipeline path discussed
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says she discussed with members of the federal cabinet the possibility of the Northern Gateway pipeline being rerouted to a different port in B.C., as multiple sources say Enbridge Inc. is quietly examining potential alternatives for a new end point, including Prince Rupert.
The former Conservative government approved the $7-billion Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline in June 2014, subject to 209 conditions imposed by the National Energy Board joint review panel.
The 1,177-kilometre twin Gateway pipeline would transport up to 525,000 barrels of oil a day from near Edmonton to the deepwater port of Kitimat in northwestern B.C., where it would be loaded onto supertankers and shipped to new Pacific Rim markets.
Enbridge has been working toward meeting all of the conditions and gaining support from aboriginal groups.
Company officials say they have no plans for a route change.
But the project has been stalled by continued opposition from the B.C. government, environmental groups and some First Nations.
Residents of Kitimat have voted against the pipeline in a non-binding plebiscite, while a group of First Nations and environmental groups is fighting the federal government’s approval of the project in court.
Notley confirmed that she and “half the cabinet” discussed the possibility of Northern Gateway going somewhere else besides Kitimat and the Douglas Channel.
“We had a bit of a back and forth on it, but it wasn’t a big part of the conversation,” the Alberta premier said late Sunday following a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Kananaskis, Alta., where the Liberal cabinet is meeting.
Multiple sources familiar with discussions around Northern Gateway say that Enbridge has been quietly studying other potential corridors and end points for the pipeline, including terminating in the Port of Prince Rupert — which is already home to shipping traffic and was initially Enbridge’s second choice to Kitimat.
Potentially running the pipeline through the Nass Valley or having it end near the mouth of the Nass River (north of Prince Rupert) are also considered possible, although more challenging, options according to multiple sources who aren’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
A spokesman for the Northern Gateway project says there are “no current plans for a route change,” but that Enbridge is committed to building the pipeline and is “open to change.”
“Northern Gateway is consulting with First Nation and Métis communities and other stakeholders to chart a path forward for the project,” Northern Gateway spokesman Ivan Giesbrecht said in an email.
“These discussions are ongoing. We are open to change and any significant developments on any aspect of the project would be communicated publicly at the appropriate time.”
Sources say Ridley Terminals Inc., a Crown corporation that operates a coal-export facility on Ridley Island in the Port of Prince Rupert, could become an important asset going forward for companies looking to ship oil or liquefied natural gas overseas.
The former Conservative government put Ridley Terminals up for sale, but no buyers have been found and the future of the facility is uncertain.
Enbridge must file shipping agreements by the end of June and begin construction on the project for the current route by Dec. 31 to avoid losing its conditional permit.
The Alberta premier, meanwhile, is rethinking her opposition to the Northern Gateway pipeline and is now more open to the project.
Trudeau has long opposed Northern Gateway and his Liberal government has promised “a moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic on British Columbia’s north coast.”
The ban would potentially choke off a proposed Kitimat shipping terminal.
But federal officials are trying to determine exactly where the moratorium would apply, and whether any tankers or petroleum products could be exempt from it.
There are also questions about the legality of any blanket moratorium.
Transport Minister Marc Garneau, who’s responsible for the tanker ban, wouldn’t say Monday whether diesel and other refined petroleum products are “crude oil” and if they could be affected by the moratorium.
Enbridge noted in a regulatory filing on Northern Gateway in 2010 that Prince Rupert was its second choice from more than a dozen marine terminal locations it studied.
However, the company said feasibility studies it did on the pipeline found that routes to Prince Rupert were too steep in some spots, while avalanches and rock slides in narrow valleys were also potential problems.
Ending the line in Prince Rupert would likely also require the pipeline to go under the Skeena River or another water body.