Province Says No To Northern Gateway Proposal
.jpg)
The red line shows the proposed route for the twin pipeline- map courtesy Enbridge
Prince George, B.C.- The Province of B.C. says it cannot support the Northern Gateway pipeline project as presented to the panel because Northern Gateway has been unable to address the province’s environmental concerns.
"British Columbia thoroughly reviewed all of the evidence and submissions made to the panel and asked substantive questions about the project including its route, spill response capacity and financial structure to handle any incidents," said Environment Minister Terry Lake. "Our questions were not satisfactorily answered during these hearings."
"We have carefully considered the evidence that has been presented to the Joint Review Panel," said Lake. "The panel must determine if it is appropriate to grant a certificate for the project as currently proposed on the basis of a promise to do more study and planning after the certificate is granted. Our government does not believe that a certificate should be granted before these important questions are answered."
"Northern Gateway has said that they would provide effective spill response in all cases. However, they have presented little evidence as to how they will respond," Lake said. "For that reason, our government cannot support the issuance of a certificate for the pipeline as it was presented to the Joint Review Panel."
British Columbia will be presenting oral final arguments to the Joint Review Panel when hearings recommence in Terrace on June 17, based on B.C.’s final written submission.
M.P Nathan Cullen has also submitted his final argument against the proposed pipeline, recommending the Joint Review Panel reject the proposal not only on its lack of merit and overabundance of risk. “The sheer scale of this proposal, the disingenuousness of the proponent, and the complete abrogation of duty by the federal government sets a disastrous precedent,” wrote Cullen.
Comments
If it was actually up to the Province, this declaration might mean something.
The stated reason is not the actual reason the provincial government has decided to now stonewall the project, but I’ll take it.
Was a bad idea and a worse plan.
JohnnyBelt is correct. its federal not provincial.
This decision to say no to the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline mega-project is NOT in “Canada’s national economic interests”… So will say Harper, our very own BIG OIL industry mouth piece!
In one hand we have billions and billions of dollars in potential oil revenue, in the other we have our environment. This Liberal Government, and our Federal Conservative government, have the same “jobs and economy” mantra, every thing, including the environment comes second!!!
Enbridge is not dead yet, not when we have a provincial and federal government, and BIG OIL, with dollar signs in their eyes! Look for another new and improved pipeline presentation with eventual acceptance by our provincial government. *yeah I am that cynical about anything to do with BIG OIL!
No new mines, no new oil, no new pipelines, no new development, no cutting trees, no new hydro power, no nothing……
Just wondering where future jobs and tax $$$ are going to come from??
What about big green?
Exactly, realitycheck…
We are losing billions by having only one customer for our oil. This is money that could be going to things that people demand from government.
BS Johnny Belt, read the news we get shit from this except a mess, also the cost of oil will go up, and that means you pay more at the pump. Oh this is a raw product not refined oil and this product is owned my the China so were do you think the jobs to refined this product will go.
The Alberta oil can be pipelined to Eastern Canada, which presently gets its oil from foreign sources. There is absolutely no need to construct bitumen pipelines through the most rugged and dangerous topography in Canada.
Win – win solution. Canada wins by using our own oil instead of imported. Canada wins by not exposing rivers, streams and lakes to bitumen degradation due to the basically unavoidable oil spills due to rockslides, avalanches and earthquakes, not to mention erosion and faulty welding seams.
Harper may be in favour. But he is not that great a gambler to stake his entire political future on this and lose.
So pg what about the pipelines already in place. Been there for decades.
So pg what about the pipelines already in place. Been there for decades. I am not for or against. Just a lot of misinformation out there about pipelines.
So, seamutt, there is a big difference between pipelines that carry crude oil and those that carry bitumen together with a condensate which is recirculated. Alberta can export its crude made from bitumen to eastern Canada. It would mean additional jobs. Already the idea is being welcomed in eastern Canada.
This bitumen is a particularly nasty stuff.
I am against this particular pipeline plan because of the difficult terrain it would have to traverse and the certainty that spills will happen regularly due to nature.
The world’s population is over 7 billion and counting – so ultimately its relentlessly increasing need for energy may frustrate all our desires to protect the environment and cause us give in with the full knowledge that it is a real bad idea.
In that case we may have to bend over but at least we must squeeze every possible dollar in revenue/royalty sharing out of it in perpetuity. If something goes wrong it must be understood that B.C. will not be paying a single dime for any spill but it will be paid for by company (companies) insurance.
You mean all those pipelines already in place that have or are leaking?
I am not in favor of exporting raw materials before processing them and creating jobs. But I am sure if the tar oil was from BC and not Alberta, the pipeline would be constructed.
A better approach would have been to say we allow the pipeline up to this point, or to specify the regions where the pipeline cannot go through and find a solution around the barriers.
Who is suprised by this smoke and mirrors?
I would be more suprised if Clark and the B.C.Liberals didn’t say no…at least to the first plan.
We just had 12 years of lies and half-truths from this government, and Christy Clark wants this pipeline so bad she can’t see straight.
So all of a sudden we should trust her?
We should suddenly trust the B.C.Liberals when they couldn’t be trusted before?
Are we nuts?
Even many her own party members don’t trust Christy Clark.
We ARE going to get this pipeline, and it will have nothing to do with the B.C.Liberals.
It will be a federal decision, and B.C. will have very little to say about it.
We will alsoget very little out of it except higher costs.
Clark however,will use this to make herself look good.
1. Successful completion of the formal environmental review processes.
2. World-leading marine oil spill response, prevention and recovery systems for British Columbia.
3. World-leading practices for land spill prevention, response and recovery systems for British Columbia.
4. Legal requirements regarding Aboriginal and treaty rights must be addressed and First Nations be provided with the opportunities to benefit from these projects.
5. British Columbia receives a fair share of the fiscal and economic benefits of proposed heavy oil projects that reflect the risk borne by the province.
Nice to hear Premier Clark heard the voters and said no.
Dragon master compared to miles of pipelines and volume pipelines are the safest mode of transportation by far. Do you have a better idea. I am talking pipelines in general.
Andy:”We ARE going to get this pipeline, and it will have nothing to do with the B.C.Liberals. It will be a federal decision, and B.C. will have very little to say about it.”
So any other provincial party’s posturing against it was the usual hot air too. Nice to know. Andy, what about the First Nations objections and their refusal to allow coastal oil tanker traffic?
The province only said no to the present proposals. If the market is there it will most likely get built even if the left and greenies start their usual violent ways. Be interesting to watch.
Posted by: univ on May 31 2013 3:25 PM
I am sure if the tar oil was from BC and not Alberta, the pipeline would be constructed.
A better approach would have been to say we allow the pipeline up to this point, or to specify the regions where the pipeline cannot go through and find a solution around the barriers.
———————————————
The pipeline would be constructed?
“cannot go through”
I think the majority would pick the region of BC as the only place to fit this category.
Andy says,…”Even many her own party members don’t trust Christy Clark”.
Exactly! Whatever happened to the 801 gang? Were they deemed a criminal org and outlawed by the lib’s from being heard from ever again from our free enterprise media?
The media hasn’t reported squat about the 801 gang since the travesty!
No pipelines seadog refine it in Canada for Canadians.
Sure am glad we are not building the trans-continental railway today. Maybe if our Confederation Fathers had to go through all this crap before their railway was built, they would still be talking. And they would not have a hotel in Banff. There would be a hunnert year debate about zoning for a hotel on “pristine land”.
If no one says anything and we allow everything without question, there will be no such thing, (pristine land”) in our children’s future Harb!
Greed will/is destroying this planet. Mostly so the elite can open offshore accounts!
This is a good and bad news situation. Good that the provimce is not being run over by indudtrious greed and bad since enviromentalists and natives seems to get their own way too many times.
Like it or not, the reality is that our economy is driven by resources and their extraction. Not by eco-tourism, wind farms, or fairy dust.
Putting a stop to this and other developments only hurt us in the long run. Pipelines aren’t new in the province of BC or Canada. There are millions of miles everywhere. They are statistically the safest way to transport oil and gas.
In any case, as I’ve said many times, it doesn’t matter what the Province declares, as the pipeline is Federal.
Park your oil burning cars and trucks, get a horse!! You are all a bunch of Hippocrates.. When you can offer me an alternative, then flap your gums!
Park it now, get a bicycle!!
If we had a federal government that actually believed in the future of Canada, and wasn’t just a mouthpiece for Alberta Big Oil, Northern Gateway would have been deep-sixed already.
The reason Alberta has a $5 billion deficit this year, and will have a $7 billion deficit next year, is that the tarsands barely make any money. Alberta made more money last year on cigarette sales than they did on natural gas royalties (less than $350 million dollars), all due to the low price of natural gas. Despite the subsidy of cheap gas, Alberta still makes virtually no money from the Tar Sands.
Read up on it, the Tar Sands need $100 barrel oil to be profitable. Natural gas can be profitable at $4 mmbtu. (world price is as high as $18mmbtu)
That is why there are 10 LNG projects on the books, and only 2 proposed oil pipelines. If you follow the money, LNG is where its at.
Northern Gateway also has the distinct disadvantage of being a huge environmental risk to BC. BP just survived bankruptcy after the Gulf of Mexico incident, and has spent over $45 billion cleaning it up. Enbridge proposes $1.2 billion insurance.
Northern Gateway is a bad deal for BC and Canada both economically and environmentally. Good riddance if Christy is not talking out of both sides of her mouth, as she usually does.
And on a side note, get rid of all the plastic in your world, all made from OIL. How about your nylon based cloths, yep made from OIL!
So, how many of you hypocrites are chucking your plastic cased smart phones in the landfill, along with all your trash in “plastic bags” made from OIL.
Get a grip on your life, because it is really messed up!
And what ever you do, don’t spank your unruly kids ….lol
It doesn’t matter if it is a federal decision, the land is in BC and there is no way in hell Harper or any PM is going bulldoze their way through the objections of a provincial govt and it’s people to complete 1 project, no matter how big it is. That would be sending a very loud message to EVERY province that they have no say in what happens inside their borders, and that would spell the END of the conservative party in Canada for a very long time if they would even recover from it. And in this day and age of media, civil liberties, reparations towards native residence (not just in Canada or BC)there is no way a federal govt will bully their way past the native population of this province. This is 1 project and if it went to court it would put a hold on virtually every project even remotely touchy.
taxinapothole, you are still an ass whether here on in alta. Always the weak argument…blah blah blah, if you don’t like oil, go back to the stoneage…how tiresome.
BUT, you hate the truth! Should learn to read on your plastic encased reader!!
You totally missed my point here in Alberta!!
But: “It doesn’t matter if it is a federal decision, the land is in BC and there is no way in hell Harper or any PM is going bulldoze their way through the objections of a provincial govt and it’s people to complete 1 project, no matter how big it is. That would be sending a very loud message to EVERY province that they have no say in what happens inside their borders, and that would spell the END of the conservative party in Canada for a very long time if they would even recover from it.”
Ah But, it does matter very much that it is a Federal decision. All you have done is type out a lot of empty threats and words with nothing of any substance to back it up.
Bottom line is that Federally regulated pipelines aren’t new. Neither are Federally regulated roads, highways, or railways.
I’m happy that this government took a definitive stand.
JB complains about only one market for canada’s oil… I am with PrinceGeorge on this. We should be supplying a second market (ourselves) with our own oil first before we even consider shipping it off-shore!
What we need is a national energy plan! Why should eastern Canada have to import oil from foreign countries when we can supply them with our own!!!
Fact of the matter is, this issue has been beat to death.
The decision will be made by the Federal Government. Christy Clark, will make the Feds the bad guys, and make herself look good, and still get the pipeline.
The Trans Canada pipeline went across Canada in the late fifties, early 60’s. There were no complaints from anyone as far as I know.
Seems some people need to get some geography lessons. Are we to believe that if we send this bitumen East it will not have to cross mountains, rivers, around lakes, parks etc; etc;. Have any of you any idea how far it is from Alberta to the Southern part of Ontario.????
So what you are saying, is put all the land in Alberta, Sask, Manitoba, Ontario, and part of Quebec(Some 2500 Miles) at risk, but save BC.
Seems people know very little about pipeline’s in this Country,.
If in fact the oil goes South on the Keystone, or East to Ontario, Quebec, BC will lose some jobs. So be it.
At the end of the day, the decision will be made by the Feds, who will negotiate with the First Nations, and that will be that. Anyone other than First Nations, in BC who think they have a say on this issue, is just blowing smoke up a dead man’s a..
Jurisdiction along the coast is also a Federal decision and BC will have no say in the matter.
Have a nice day.
Palopu, big difference between a Trans Canada pipeline, and one that sends unrefined bitumen to China.
I really question how patriotic people who support Northern Gateway are.
If the Feds support Northern Gateway, they deserve to be replaced. Canada is worth saving, and worth fighting for.
Herbster. Who told you that this oil was going to go to China. The politicians, and the newspapers. There is in fact no contracts in place, that I am aware of.
I suspect that it will go to the refineries in Southern California. Some will go to China.
When it comes to an oil spill I would suspect that unrefined bitumen would run a lot slower than refined oil, and therefore would at the end of the day probably pollute less. Who knows. It would depend on where the spill happened. (If it happened) Don’t forget that the Exxon Valdez was crude oil, and it was one hell of a mess. Oil sinking to the bottom might be one hell of a lot better than polluting hundreds of miles of shore line.
We will just have to wait and see how this plays out.
Personally I could care less where it goes, however if it was not for the Oil Sands during the last recession BC and the rest of the Country would have been in serious trouble.
There are thousands of people from BC who make their living from the Oil Sands.
The Feds are fully aware of our imports and exports, and know that we need exports of all products to keep this Country going. It matters little what Government is in power, Cons, or Liberals, they all support pipelines, and big oil.
Liberals and NDP are both on record as supporting a West to East pipeline and opposing Northern Gateway. Only Stephen Harpers’ Conservatives are pushing this Enbridge project.
“Oil sinking to the bottom might be one hell of a lot better than polluting hundreds of miles of shore line” .. seriously? Like that would make a difference to you? Kill the bottom of the ocean instead of having a fighting chance to clean some of it up? How exactly did oil production in alta keep BC out of a recession? BC workers heading to alta to live and work helped BC how? If they made it there,they spent it there. And still the alta govt has a ballooned debt, even with their so-called riches. I think it was mainly the doubling of the BC debt with govt funded infrastructure projects and make work projects that kept most people working. How do you think out debt was doubled in the last few years?
“Are we to believe that if we send this bitumen East it will not have to cross mountains” ……..
Strange but true ….. thousands of KM of virtually flat land ….
Do we need more jobs?
Do we have a worker shortage?
Is the oil going anywhere?
Are corporate profits high?
Should we leave some resources for future generations?
If we are all employed why do we need more resource extraction?
If we are all paying taxes and working and corps are making profits why can’t our government run social services and infrastructure?
Something is broken, shouldn’t we fix it?
Do I need to pay more taxes?
Do corps need to Pay more taxes?
Does government need to stop waste?
I don’t know the answers but I think these are questions all Canadians should ask themselves and their elected officials.
JB there is one problem with this pipeline that you seem to forget! It is called Enbridge! What they did to the Kalamazoo river is nothing less than criminal. Enbridges safety record is horrible. The people will stop the pipeline JB like the natives stopped the logging on South Morsby.
I agree very much with your type of questions, govsux.
Those, and many others added to the list, are all “bigger picture” questions which we never get to ask and get answered. Not at election time, not at budget time, not at a state of the union time. Never!
Yet, there are occasions when those types of questions are posed, or close to those types of questions, to assess the impact of such projects as the Enbridge pipeline in question now, the KPMG report for PG, the assessment of the expansion of Roberts Bank, etc.
The interesting thing to me is that I think all those questions ought to be politically neutral. In other words, we either need jobs or we do not; we either have a worker shortage or we do not; etc. Whether an NDP or a BCLiberals or a Green party looks at those questions, the answers should be the same for all.
I think the difference should come in with what we do about any âproblemsâ. How do we implement a fix?
The people are not part of the âconversationâ, as seems to be the jargon these days, about the state of the union. In fact, I actually wonder whether anyone who has been given the responsibility by us to run our country, our province, our city, is part of that conversation to ANY level.
Everyone is working by the seat of their pants.
As to the question whether something like the pipeline is federal jurisdiction or not, it matters little. We live in Canada. Canada is a federation which has turned over many rights to the people of the province. Any province which has its rights trampled on needs to stand up for itself each time that happens, otherwise the federation is weakened. Those issues do not come up too often. The pipeline happens to be one of them. In the final analysis, ALL governments have to realize that in this country, the people have the say, and it is not just at election time but at the time the question is being asked, as it is now.
Interestingly, that is the position the Enbridge VP took on it in her public reaction to BCâs âdecisionâ based on the information made available by Enbridge to date.
Kinsley was âshockedâ. Shows how much in touch with reality he is!
An article from Scientific American asks the question: âDoes Tar Sand Oil Increase the Risk of Pipeline Spills?â
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=tar-sand-oil-and-pipeline-spill-risk
No definitive answers, but an interesting read that at least raises the question for a public âconversationâ.
Also an interesting read is a reference in the article to a Corrective Action Order from the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration following two spills, including a small spill of 400 barrels of dilbit from a TC Oil Pipeline Operations, Inc. pipeline.
http://blog.nwf.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/11/files/2011/06/320115006H_CAO_06032011.pdf
âAfter evaluating the foregoing preliminary findings of fact, I find that the continued operation of the pipeline without corrective measures would be hazardous to life, property and the environment.
âAdditionally, after considering the circumstances surrounding the May 7 and May 29, 2011 failures, the proximity of the pipeline to populated areas, water bodies, public roadways and high consequence areas, the hazardous nature of the product the pipeline transports, the ongoing investigation to determine the cause of the failures, and the potential for the conditions causing the failures to be present elsewhere on the pipeline, I find that a failure to issue this Order expeditiously to require immediate corrective action would result in likely serious harm to life, property, and the environment.
âAccordingly, this Corrective Action Order mandating immediate corrective action is issued without prior notice and opportunity for a hearing. The terms and conditions of this Order are effective upon receipt.â
JB, the final say is actually provincial, since the province can deny issuing a building permit for the project – which means it would be tied up in court for years and practically dead.
The Alberta oil industry employs approx. 550,000 people from all over Canada. Ie; NFLD/Lab to BC.
Without these jobs during the last recession we would have gone belly up, just like the Americans, and some other Countries, so lets recognize the facts.
A large number of people who work in Alberta have families that live in other parts of the Country. This should be common knowledge to most people if they have any clue at all, as to what is taking place in Alberta.
The oil sands will make Alberta, and Canada one of the top 5 oil producing Countries in the world, and will supply employment opportunities, etc for years to come.
HOWEVER. Canada needs a way to get this oil to market and benefit from International oil prices. This means East Coast, West Coast. Once we have access to other markets, we can then get the Americans to pay a higher price for Canadian Oil.
As it now stands this oil feeds US refineries in Texas, and if the Americans did not buy it, we would be (well you get the idea)
So Palopu, even though we have a worker shortage, we should bring in foreign workers to extract a resource that’s not going anywhere and squander our children’s resources so the government can have more revenue to piss into the wind? I just don’t understand the rush.
The head of the Norwegian oil company, who cut his teeth in Alberta years ago, is on record stating Canada is the richest country in the world and should not let the oil companies dictate the conditions of sale. We are giving away resources. Selling the future to pay for bad budgeting.
You’re right, govsux, we are in effect giving away our resources to the US, because they are our only customer. We could be getting a far better price.
I don’t think people realize how important the oilsands are to Canada’s economy, even though Palopu has tried his best to explain it. It appears there are many people who just don’t want to acknowledge that fact.
Comments for this article are closed.