Enbridge Wants to- Engage The Outrage
By 250 News
Friday, March 20, 2009 04:11 AM
Map shows proposed Enbridge Northern gateway pipeline (map courtesy Enbridge)
Prince George, B.C. – The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline project is planning Community Advisory Boards to work with it through the development of the line. “The Community Advisory Board is really about engaging anyone who has any opinion at all about the project” says Roger Harris, President of Enbridge Northern Gateway Aboriginal and Community Relations.
The pipeline would see oil move west on a line from Bruderheim, Alberta to a new marine terminal in Kitimat and an eastbound line that would carry condensate (used to thin petroleum for pipeline shipping) from the terminal back to Bruderheim.
Harris says he wants to know how people want to get information, what kind of information they want, “We’ve decided to take on a basic philosophy of ‘engage the outrage’ which really says we want people to be involved in this project in a very meaningful way.”
He says the results of the first CAB meeting will provide direction on how future sessions will go and can see how eventually there will be smaller groups that will look at specific issues “whether its environmental, whether its economic, whether its social, whether it’s legacy, or green initiatives, you know, we really want people to help define the process in which they’re engaged.”
There have already been about 3,000 people who have contacted Enbridge over the project. Harris says those people are now being surveyed to see how involved they want to be. “We expect to complete that survey process in about a month and out of that we will put together the first CAB session and it will give us the guidance on how it will be shaped, what will be the issues we’ll talk about and how we’ll move it forward.” Although having to deal with so many groups could be considered cumbersome by some, Harris says it’s necessary “It is something you have to do so people really feel you are engaging them and making them, in very real terms, a part of what this project looks like.”
Harris doesn’t see the CAB disappearing if the line is approved and built “To me the CAB is something that is in existence 20 or 30 years from now on an on going basis connects this project with the communities it interacts with.”
The look of the project has already gone through several revisions and will go through more before any construction begins. Harris says the pipeline route as shown today is the 19th version and won’t likely be the last “We are flexible, we can make changes.”
One of those changes is cost, as the project was estimated at $4 billion dollars in 2005 but things have changed since then “I think we can expect that to be revised higher” says Roger Harris.
Harris says there is commercial support for the line now, which was not the case when the line was first proposed.
The pipeline construction is expected to create 4000 jobs, but Harris is hopeful there will be a string of other businesses start in communities along the line to provide services and materials for the life of the line.
With offices in Terrace and Kitimat, Enbridge is thinking about opening a regional office in Burns Lake this year and one in Grande Prairie in 2010.
Enbridge is also looking at developing what it calls the Enbridge Northern Gateway Trust to create tangible benefits to communities along the route. A Community Advisory Board, will make recommendations on how the funds can best be allocated to meet the priorities of local communities. The Trust will be available to support community projects or programs in Education, Health and Safety, Culture and Community Leadership and the Environment.
Enbridge will file with the National Energy Board for a project review in June, and will file a supplemental report in November. That review is expected take about 2 years to complete and will include the environmental assessments.
Anyone wanting to be part of a Community Advisory Board can contact the Northern Gateway Pipeline project by clicking here.
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Posted by: downnotout on March 20 2009 7:47 AM