Surrey businesses stand to benefit from Enbridge Inc.’s (TSX:ENB) proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, according to the project’s executive vice-president of western access.
Janet Holder discussed the project with Surrey Board of Trade members last week at the Eaglequest golf course.
If approved by the federal government, the 1,177-kilometre pipeline would carry up to 525,000 barrels per day from northern Alberta to Kitimat and generate an estimated $1.2 billion in tax revenue for B.C. over the next 30 years.
“I believe that Northern Gateway will help to secure a better future for every British Columbian,” said Holder, stressing Enbridge’s commitment to environmental sustainability and job creation.
When questioned about Enbridge’s history of accidents – including a high-profile incident in which more than 19,000 barrels of oil spilled into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River – Holder emphasized the strength of Enbridge’s emergency response plan.
She added that the chances of such a catastrophic spill being repeated are extremely remote.
“We can’t say it will never ever happen – there is always that risk – but what’s important is what we’ve done to mitigate that risk,” she said.
“We’ve spent millions of dollars developing new technology that helps to monitor healthy pipelines.”
Unlike the Kinder Morgan (NYE:KMI) Trans Mountain pipeline, Northern Gateway would not run through Surrey, eliminating many local environmental concerns.
Despite Surrey’s distance from the proposed line, board CEO Anita Huberman said that procurement opportunities for Surrey businesses will become available in four weeks, if the Kinder Morgan project is approved.
When asked if the board would take a formal stance on the Enbridge pipeline, Huberman said it could take a while to write a position paper similar to the one the board issued in favour of the Kinder Morgan pipeline in December.
“We’ll be looking at it in three weeks, but I don’t think a formal position paper, as we wrote for the Kinder Morgan pipeline, will be ready in the near future,” she said.
“That position paper took us eight months to write, but I think something will happen before June, at least.”
Ottawa’s Northern Gateway decision is expected by the end of June. •
Surrey and White Rock seek pipeline hearing intervener status
Surrey and White Rock are applying to the National Energy Board (NEB) to be interveners at the upcoming Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion public hearing.
The project involves a twinning of the existing pipeline between Edmonton and Burnaby and includes a 14-kilometre segment that runs through North Surrey.
Surrey councillor Bruce Hayne said council’s application for intervener status doesn’t mean it’s opposing the project, as the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby have. White Rock councillor Helen Fathers echoed Hayne’s comments. She said the City by the Sea has yet to form an opinion on the project, but wanted to ensure it had the option of making a submission at a later date.
The NEB, which regulates the federal jurisdiction, received a 15,000-page application from Kinder Morgan for the project last December, and the application triggered a regulatory review and public hearing process. The public hearing is expected to last 15 months. The NEB posted its public hearing application on January 17.
Applicants can apply for either commenter status or intervener status. Commenter status allows for letters and written statements to be filed; intervener status allows for written evidence and oral presentations. An intervener can also receive all documents filed by the company and other interveners, comment on evidence provided and make a final argument.
