The fate of tar sands pipelines across the country – including Enbridge’s Line 9 that runs through Hamilton – is now in the hands of whoever wins the October 19 federal election. Despite full support from the Harper government and direct Conservative assistance to Enbridge via Mike Duffy, no increase in pipeline transport of Alberta bitumen anywhere in Canada has occurred since the Conservatives won a majority four years ago.
Enbridge officials have now acknowledged that they won’t be able to submit hydrostatic testing results of Line 9 until the end of the year to the National Energy Board (NEB). Analysts calculate that the repeated delays to the project launched three years ago have added $100 million to the company’s costs of reversing the direction of flow in the 40-year-old pipe and increasing its volumes by 25 percent.
Since the NEB ordered the hydrostatic testing in three small sections of the pipeline in response to pressure from municipalities and the Ontario government, another huge pipeline leak in Alberta has business commentators suggesting that further oil sands pipes “look doomed”. The 5-million litre Nexen spill from a brand new state-of-the-art pipeline leaked for up to two weeks before being discovered in mid-July.
The 1200 km proposed Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline across northern BC to Kitimat has NEB approval but faces multiple First Nation lawsuits and is widely seen as having no hope of being built. The Keystone XL pipe across the border into the United States has been waiting more than three years for a decision from President Obama that’s predicted to be a refusal. A plan to twin a Kinder Morgan pipe from Alberta to Vancouver is tied up in an NEB review and has seen dozens of protestors arrested and vows from municipal mayors that they will prevent the project from proceeding.
The main blockage has been massive public opposition, especially in British Columbia and particularly from First Nations. The dismantling of federal environmental laws and the discrediting of the National Energy Board (NEB) have also played a part in delaying or halting projects that appeared almost certain to proceed. Provincial and municipal governments as well as federal opposition parties are saying thorough environmental reviews must now occur including consideration of both upstream and downstream climatic impacts of expanded tar sands extraction.
Those factors have converted municipal and provincial governments into pipeline obstacles – with the most recent evidence filed last week when the Ontario Energy Board concluded that the risks of the proposed Energy East pipeline from Alberta to New Brunswick outweigh the benefits to the province and that it will drive up natural gas prices.
“There is an imbalance between the economic and environmental risks of the project, and the expected benefits for Ontarians,” warns the Ontario regulator. “The primary concerns of Ontarians are about pipeline safety, and the impact of Energy East on their lakes, rivers and drinking water in the event of a spill.”
The report puts additional pressure on the NEB which has elected to proceed with a review of the 4600 km pipeline despite not yet receiving complete information from the proponent, TransCanada Pipelines. The credibility of the NEB continues to be severely challenged, with another hit last week over the withdrawal of 25 participants in the Board’s review of the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline from Alberta to Vancouver.
This NEB review had earlier been denounced by the mayors of Vancouver, Burnaby and several other municipalities as well as by the former heads of both BC Hydro and the Insurance Corporation of BC. The most recent accusations of unfairness came after a Kinder Morgan consultant was appointed to the Board by the federal government.
Other recent blows include revelations of spying on peaceful pipeline opponents that have led to a lawsuit against the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and last week’s Guardian expose that the federal government has secretly spent millions on tar sands advocacy. Court disclosures of Mike Duffy emails show him secretly meeting with Enbridge apparently on behalf of Prime Minister Harper.