Enbridge Questioned on Pipeline Toughness, Logistics
Saturday, October 13, 2012 @ 1:43 PM
Prince George, B.C. – The Joint Review Panel hearings into the design and engineering aspects of the Northern Gateway Pipeline project heard questions about pipeline toughness, resistance to temperature fluctuations, landslide impacts and the logistics of pipeline construction Saturday.
A group of Enbridge experts fielded questions from several presenters. Dr. Hugh Kerr, representing the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union, questioned the toughness of Category 1 pipe and its ability to withstand fracturing in minus 25 degree and colder temperatures. The Enbridge experts say Category 1 pipe is the standard size pipe used in pipeline construction across Canada. They say they have a very good idea of the metal’s toughness, adding they can’t think of one example where a seismic event has led to a fracture of the pipe. The experts say in fact the problem is unstable ground causing a strain on the pipe, not the shaking of the seismic event itself.
Dr. Kerr fired a series of questions at the experts: Does the pipe sit outside in -25 and colder temperatures during construction; has any pipe ever been hit by a backhoe; is it possible a hammer could hit a pipe in an effort to align it during construction. Enbridge responded the answer to all of the questions is yes, but added those are all hypothetical. And they said Kerr should have asked a further question of whether any of those scenarios has caused a pipe to break. They answer, they say, is no.
Dr. Kerr wanted to know what kind of field testing would be conducted on manual welds of tie-ins during construction. Enbridge acknowledged that can be challenging but stated repeatedly that Kerr was building a lot of presumption into several leading questions of the matter. Kerr pointedly asked “who would get sued if a weld breaks?” Enbridge counsel Dennis Langen questioned the relevance of that query and said it is not in the purview of the technical experts. Langen says the question is a legal one about a hypothetical situation and is not fair. Kerr again was accused of asking leading questions, to which he said that no one is willing to answer his questions regarding testing and weld breaks.
Intervenor Terry Vulcano delved into the pipeline construction itself, questioning whether it’s a straight build from Bruderheim, Alberta to Kitimat. Enbridge says it’s not as simple as starting in the east and going west. The company anticipates having three separate contractors working simultaneously in three separate areas of the route during each of two summer and two winter seasons. Enbridge says construction is not sequential because seasonal conditions dictate that it is undertaken in that manner. Enbridge says the workforce at the outset of construction in Alberta will be hired by the contractor with 50 percent coming from Alberta union halls, a minimum 15 percent from the aboriginal community and the remainder coming from local union halls spread out over the course of the route. Vulcano wonders whether the same crew will be retained by the contractors throughout the project for reasons of productivity and safety. The Enbridge experts say that is the plan because it becomes a far smoother operation to have continuity in the workforce.
Enbridge says the intention is to construct the 36-inch pipeline carrying bitumen first, followed by the 20-inch condensate line adjacent to it in the right-of-way.
This sitting of the Final Hearings Questioning Phase was to wrap up Saturday but has been extended and will now conclude with three intervenors questioning the Enbridge panel on Monday.
Comments
Harper has just signed a hidden treaty with China that states:
“IF BRITISH COLUMBIA BLOCKS THE PIPELINE, CHINA HAS A RIGHT TO SUE B.C.”
It is too late people, we have been packaged and sold by Chairman Harper to the Chinese. We just had all our rights to protect our land sold down the river. Don’t take my word for it look it up on the Tyee or other creditable news sources.
DOUBLE HULLED TANKERS? TRIPLE WALLED PIPELINES. ASK YOUR MP WHY WE DON’T DO THIS.
Tankers are double hulled
…all questions Dr Kerr could have answered himself using Google. Waste of time. Educate yourself people, then ask relevant questions.
well said gamblor,dr kerr is full of it.
i wonder if he ever catches a plane anywhere.it could crash if you applied all his questions as to wether or not it might reach its destination.
So let me get this straight. 50 percent of the workers will come from Alberta halls. 15 percent from Aboriginal folks. 35 percent from BC halls? BC is the lions share as far as the length of this thing is concerned and we get less than half of the job opportunities?
Yea….good one there Enbridge…..
How’s about this. Why don’t we build a freeking refinery somewhere. I don’t care if its in Alberta, BC or even Quebec for that matter. Then we sell the REFINED product…at greater markup to the Chinese or whomever wants it. That’s a much better plan.
“TRIPLE WALLED PIPELINES. ASK YOUR MP WHY WE DON’T DO THIS.”
Why stop at three? Make it twenty! Post a person every ten feet of the pipeline 24/7/365 to watch for spills. Think of the jobs!
Whoever Dr. Kerr is, I agree they sounded like stupid questions.
But, has anyone ever been to a short course where the instructor/facilitator started it off by saying something like: “Don’t be shy about asking questions. Remember, there is no such thing as a stupic question.”?
Well, maybe the good doctor thought he was at one of those courses. ;-)
http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/data/media/17/alaska-pipeline-in-winter_5499.jpg
Maybe Dr. Kerr needs to travel to Alaska to see the extreme temperatures a pipeline needs to endure as it crosses over permafrost areas.
Perhaps a more reasonable question would be: “What are the pros and cons of a burried line versus a surface pipeline. How much of the proposed pipeline will be surface and how much will be burried?”
http://www.oilsandsreview.com/gallery-image.asp?id=17
“Don’t take my word for it look it up on the Tyee or other creditable news sources”
errrr – what?
Problem with above ground pipes is the unsightliness of it
You mean like those god awfull electrical transmission lines? The ones which can black out an entire area in a severe storm due to arcing, and ice storms such as in Quebec several years ago which not only took down conductors but also buckled towers from the freezing rain?
Wanna see ugly? Look at gravel roads, asphalt roads, all kinds of roads. How about shacks along the highways? Seismic lines? Tailing ponds? Open pit mines?
The earth has many manmade signatures on its surface. Those who snowmoibiles and ATVs are the most likely to see such man made structures in the landscape. Those who stick to the public highway network are least likely to see them until they get up in a plane.
Iwoul not mind seeing such pipelins. The frequency that I see them wold be miniscule to the frequency that I still see exposed communication and electrical lines in cities alng main arterials as well as rural and central urban areas.
It shows that we are alive and making our marks on the earth the same as other animals.
Well hopefully there are a few on the Enbridge team can understand that no means that the majority of the province has voted on NOT having the pipeline going through our pristene mountains and streams. We could ask Google to say it in Chinese. THen they could better understand our position on this delicate question.
Sue us in what court Realist? The kangaroo court maybe?
The route of the pipeline passes through the habitat of four protected species. It’s over for Enbridge.
“four protected species”
I hope one of them is homo sapiens. If not, it would be about time.
On a previous comment one person presented transcripts of phonecalls within the company, pursuant to the Michigan spill. There, all the instruments told them there was a problem. What did they do? They overrode all the safety procedures and restarted the line, not once but twice! Instead of checking it out, they simply said no one has called to complain.
Wow, and this is the management they want us to buy into?!
Sorry Enbridge. Uh, no thanks. Not me!
Chairman Harper used the budget bill to push through retroactive environmental legislation and other related legislative changes to pave the way for Northern Gateway. He essentially used blackmail over the fiscal budget of Canada to ensure China can get access to Canadian resources with minimal collateral considerations.
Now with the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Act that he signed in Vladivostok Russia at the recent APEC summit and guaranteed himself with no input from Parliament or the provinces (which should be a requirement when selling out sovereign rights)… now he gives China the right to sue BC in Chinese courts based on changes he made to Canadian regulations with the Omnibus Budget Bill if China does not get their way on resource extraction and state owned foreign takeovers of Canada’s market economy. The worst part is it is not a reciprocal agreement as we do not get those same rights in communist China.
Chairman Harper is making true on his vision of an ‘enlightened sovereignty’ for Canada and there is nothing enlightened about it. Its a sell out of the country and it is treason from within. It shows a complete lack of respect for Canadians and for our democratic institutions.
China for their part operates on the notion that once they have a claim it becomes an issue of their sovereign national security. Soon at the rate things are going with key industry sold off to Chinese state owned corporations, and whole mines employing Chinese workers, and Chinese courts making rulings on Canadian sovereignty… soon at this rate they will be treating us as they do their neighbors in the South China Sea and will claim the moral high ground based on treaty and law when they do come to secure their national security.
Our country is in great danger with the politicians and the media we have today selling out our country for quick profits.
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