TRANS MOUNTAIN EXPANSION PROCESS INCHING FORWARD
Detailed route hearings to focus on landowners’ concerns over pipeline
The expansion of Kinder Morgan Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline was approved by the federal government in 2016, but the $7.4-billion project continues to run into roadblocks.
Although the Alberta ban on B.C. wine is grabbing headlines, the controversial pipeline expansion still must complete a complex regulatory process before the whole enterprise can go ahead.
While court decisions or political calculations could throw off the timetable, here’s an overview of the major steps on the way to a green light.
Q What’s the National Energy Board doing now?
A The 1,147-kilometre pipeline twinning has been approved within an approximately 150-metre-wide corridor, but now the independent federal agency must determine exactly where in that corridor the pipe will be installed.
Detailed route hearings across Alberta and British Columbia will handle local concerns by landowners and interveners about the timetable, location or method of building the pipeline.
There are about 60 active hearings.
The board has heard all the issues raised regarding the line between Edmonton and the Jasper National Park gate, and released the first written decisions this week.
Detailed hearings for most of the B.C. route will be held from late February to early May in Valemount, Clearwater, Burnaby, Kamloops and Merritt, but the schedule for a segment near the Lower Mainland won’t be released for one or two months.
Q How much has been done so far?
A The vast majority of landowners didn’t file objections, and the energy board says more than half the entire detailed route has been approved. The board doesn’t determine what people will be paid to have a pipeline run through their property. If necessary, the minister of Natural Resources can appoint an arbitrator.
Q Now what?
A These are the last public hearings on the pipeline. However, Kinder Morgan must fulfil 157 conditions imposed by the energy board before all its obligations are met, although many don’t need to be satisfied before construction starts.
The company provided thousands of specific commitments to the energy board about how the project will be constructed or operated which it’s required to track.
In addition, it must obtain federal, provincial and municipal permits covering road crossings, fisheries, environmental protection, access to Crown land, building approval and many other issues. A status table shows 19 have been completed and 39 are in progress.
After Kinder Morgan complained last year that Burnaby was taking too long to provide permits, the energy board ruled it could ignore the city’s bylaws and start construction in the area.
Q What does the future hold?
A The company expects to invest $1.8 billion on the expansion this year, including working on Burnaby’s Westridge Marine Terminal, obtaining permits, and doing detailed engineering and design.
It also has also met the energy board’s conditions allowing it to set up temporary infrastructure sites as far west as the B.C. Interior for purposes such as pipe storage, contractor yards and camps.
However, Kinder Morgan has indicated all the delays mean the pipeline won’t be in service until December 2020, a year later than originally planned, and it won’t commit to full construction spending until there’s more progress on permits and it’s clear the project can be completed.