Alberta Takes On B.C. In The Trans Mountain Pipeline Project Debate
Presenter: John Pope
Two NDP Provincial governments are at loggerheads over the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Project. Alberta PM’s Rachel Notley was enraged earlier this week over the B.C. government’s decision to study the effects of bitumen on the West Coast environment, delaying the project indefinitely. Retaliatory action has been started.
Our discussion will follow from the following articles:
In Canada, pipeline politics make for strange alliances (Feb. 2):
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/in-canada-pipeline-politics-make-for-strange-alliances/article37846291/
After years of trying to play nice, it’s simply come to this: Diplomacy has failed (Feb. 3):
http://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/road-ahead-jen-gerson-alberta-versus-bc-pipeline-fight-1.4517400
Fort McMurray restaurant boycotts B.C. wine over pipeline spat (Feb. 1): http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fort-mcmurray-boycott-british-columbia-wine-1.4515947
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For more information on the Trans Mountain Expansion Project visit www.transmountain.com.
Kinder Morgan information
Trans Mountain Expansion Project Scope
- Projected capital cost is approximately $7.4* billion
- Approximately 980 km of new pipeline
- 73% of the route will use the existing right-of-way, 16% would follow other linear infrastructure such as TELUS, Hydro or highways and 11% would be new right-of-way
- Reactivation of 193 km of reactivated pipeline
- 12 new pump stations to be built
- 19 new tanks to be added to existing storage terminals in Burnaby (14), Sumas (1) and Edmonton (4)
- Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby to be expanded with three new berths
- Existing line to carry refined products, synthetic crude oils, light crude oils with capability for heavy crude oils
- The new line will carry heavier oils with capability for transporting light crude oils
*Actual Project costs may change. ***
Related Links:
Times Colonist’s Jack Knox on the “Reaction to the Trans Mountain pipeline decision, pro and con” (Nov. 2016): http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/reaction-to-the-trans-mountain-pipeline-decision-pro-and-con-1.3426719
Kinder Morgan ordered to stop installing fish spawning deterrent mats (Sep. 2017):
The Sacred Trust is an initiative of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation mandated to stop the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project:
https://twnsacredtrust.ca/concerns/landowners/
Transportation Safety Board – Pipeline statistics:
http://www.bst-tsb.gc.ca/eng/stats/pipeline/index.asp
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Questions:
Does this discussion simply break down into a fight between protecting the environment and developing the economy?
Is the appointed National Energy Board biased?
Does the decision to go ahead with pipelines mean that the federal government is not protecting the environment?
