What are expected to be heated hearings opened last month as the federal government weighs a decision to allow the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project to proceed. The twin pipeline would carry up to 525,000 barrels of oil per day from the Alberta oilsands to a deep-sea oil tanker port at Kitimat, and 193,000 barrels of condensate - a thinning material - back to Alberta.
The $6.6 billion, 1,177-kilometre pipeline is worth an estimated $72 billion to oilsands producers, according to report from the Alberta government.
Public hearings into the proposal began January 10 in Kitimat and more than 4,200 people representing about 200 organizations had signed up to speak. The hearings will continue in 24 communities across B.C. and Alberta and are expected to take two years to complete.
There is both strong opposition and serious financial support for the pipeline. In a National Energy Board report prior to the hearings, it was revealed that Calgary-based Enbridge Inc., the pipeline's developer, is being backed by industry giants including Suncor Energy Inc., Nexen Inc., Cenovus Energy Inc. and MEC Energy Inc. Backers also include China-owned energy company Sinopec.
Groups arrayed against the pipeline include local native bands and domestic and international environmental groups. Most argue that the pipeline and tanker traffic represent a hazard to marine life and B.C.'s fishing industry. The B.C.-based Living Ocean Society notes that the pipeline will require 220 supertankers every year, each carrying two million barrels of oil. This, the society says, is eight times more than the Exxon Valdez oil tanker, which struck a reef in the same waters in 1989.
A number of First Nation bands along the mainland pipeline route, and in Haida Gwaii, have voiced opposition to the plan.
Enbridge, however, notes that nearly two-dozen First Nation groups have signed up as equity partners. According to the company, such groups will be offered a 10 per cent share in the pipeline that would equate to more than $280 million over the next 30 years, plus preferential hiring during construction.
from Western Investor February 2012
