Environment and Parks
In its final written submission to the National Energy Board (NEB) panel reviewing Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Expansion project, the provincial government says it will continue to evaluate the project based on the company’s ability to meet the five requirements which B.C. has insisted must be in place for any new heavy-oil pipeline to receive provincial support.
In 2012, the provincial government established five requirements in order for British Columbia to consider the construction and operation of heavy-oil pipelines in the province. The Province’s position has not wavered since then. The requirements include:
- Successful completion of the environmental review process. For the Trans Mountain Expansion project, that would mean a recommendation by the National Energy Board Review Panel that the project proceed;
- World-leading marine oil spill response, prevention and recovery systems for B.C.’s coastline and ocean to manage and mitigate the risks and costs of heavy-oil pipelines and shipments;
- World-leading practices for land oil spill prevention, response and recovery systems to manage and mitigate the risks and costs of heavy-oil pipelines;
- Legal requirements regarding Aboriginal and treaty rights are addressed, and First Nations are provided with the opportunities, information and resources necessary to participate in and benefit from a heavy-oil project; and
- British Columbia receives a fair share of the fiscal and economic benefits of a proposed heavy-oil project that reflect the level, degree and nature of the risk borne by the province, the environment and taxpayers.
During the course of the NEB review the company has not provided enough information around its proposed spill prevention and response for the Province to determine if it would use a world leading spills regime. Because of this the Province is unable to support the project at this time, based on the evidence submitted.
In preparing the final argument submission, the Province’s legal and technical experts analysed the information contained in Trans Mountain’s application and all of the submissions made to the review panel. In addition, during the review process, the Province filed three sets of detailed information requests pertaining to spill response, prevention and recovery systems.
The Province’s submission to the Joint Review Panel can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/1MXwP5n
