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Alberta premier suggests Delta for Trans Mountain pipeline

Delta may be a better option for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
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Kinder Morgan's plan to twin its existing Trans Mountain pipeline, which terminates in Burnaby, has been controversial 

Delta may be a better option for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Alberta’s new premier, Rachel Notley, dropped that bombshell Wednesday at Bloomberg LIVE’s Canadian fixed income conference in New York, offering a suggestion that surely won’t go over well with many in South Delta who are already lobbying against the proposed container terminal expansion at Roberts Bank.  

The first-term New Democrat premier already indicated support for Kinder Morgan Inc.’s highly contentious $5.4-billion oil pipeline twinning plan, which has drawn heated opposition from such cities of Burnaby and Vancouver as well as environmental groups. If approved by the National Energy Board, Kinder Morgan would nearly triple the capacity of its Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to an existing facility in Burnaby to 890,000 barrels a day, a plan that has opponents warning about oil spills and increased tanker traffic.

Delta also already submitted a number of comments on the proposal, primarily related to concerns regarding spill response from a tanker spill or pipeline spill that could impact Delta's marine and estuarine areas.

This week the Alberta premier said the project may have to go to a different port, saying the vast majority of that pipeline has support of the communities through which it runs.

Although Kinder Morgan is still sticking to its proposal to route the expansion to Burnaby, Notley suggested it may be time to be creative and re-route the pipeline further south, noting South Delta is one possibility where the pipeline could terminate.

Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington was quick to respond, saying it’s unfortunate the Alberta premier would make such an ill-considered statement.

“Delta’s foreshore is a completely inappropriate location for the Kinder Morgan terminus, and would put the most valuable ecological habitat in Canada at risk. The Fraser River delta is an internationally significant area for millions of salmon and shorebirds, and I am firmly opposed to any such suggestion,” Huntington said.

“Kinder Morgan’s own documents state that Delta and other terminus alternatives ‘would result in significantly greater cost, larger footprint and additional environmental effects.’ I hope the premier’s future statements will reconsider Delta and the Fraser River estuary as non-negotiable with respect to Kinder Morgan’s proposal, as well as any future oil export proposal.”

Against Port Expansion’s Roger Emsley also said the environmentally sensitive area is simply the wrong location.

Noting the 2012 accident when a large bulk carrier docking at Westshore Terminals destroyed a coal conveyor system, spilling a large amount of coal into Georgia Strait, Emsley said it appears something may be going on behind the scenes for the Alberta premier to bring up the idea.

“’Let’s assume for a moment that the port (of Metro Vancouver) builds the pod, then the man-made island, and once they’ve got that they’d say, ‘Well, OK, we’re going to make it an oil terminal, perhaps with some storage out there too.’

“Where they are planning to locate the docks? It’s a very exposed position. It’s basically on the outside right on Georgia Straight. We have seen vessels break from their moorings with a good strong wind even in the causeway area. Once one of the vessels breaks loose, you’ve got a lot of traffic going in there and we saw that coal freighter plow straight through Westshore. It’s not the right place to put an oil storage terminal, it’s not the right place for anything,” he added.

Although there’s been no indication from Port Metro Vancouver that Roberts Bank is being considered as an alternative location for an oil export facility, the Corporation of Delta started raising red flags about that possibility a couple of years ago. CAO George Harvie and Mayor Lois Jackson went on fact finding trip to Norway to visit liquid bulk products handling and shipping facilities in that country as part of a delegation, which included port officials, petroleum companies and others. They joined the tour due to concern about development of a bulk liquid handling facility at Roberts Bank.

During an NEB public comment period on the Kinder Morgan proposal, a group calling itself Concerned Professional Engineers (CPE) filed its opinion that Roberts Bank is better suited as a shipping point for Alberta diluted bitumen.

Kinder Morgan recently released a consultant’s report which went over the benefits of an expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, including eliminating the need to ship oil by rail in Western Canada.

To read more stories from the Delta Optimist, visit www.delta-optimist.com.

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