Enbridge’s proposed construction of 35 kilometres of new oil pipeline across Hamilton is now before the National Energy Board but the review process is uncertain and the status of the Board itself is clouded by legal challenges, accusations of bias, and promised reform by the new federal government. There are also multiple city concerns, landowner opposition, and on-going protests against pipelines bolstered by last week’s global climate agreement that the fossil fuel era is coming to a close that crashed oil stocks.
At this point, the protests and legal challenges continue to focus on Enbridge’s Line 9 running from Sarnia to Hamilton through the village of Westover in rural Hamilton. The new pipe (Line 10) runs from the Westover hub to Nebo Road to replace part of a 143 kilometre pipeline to New York State. It includes eleven kilometres of new right-of-way to avoid the cost of passing through golf courses in favour of crossing farmland.
That has at least one golf club owner crying foul about the impacts on the Greenbelt, as well as a number of farmers who say they don’t want environmentally sensitive areas and productive land on their properties used by Enbridge. The latter group say they have “secured highly regarded legal representation” to fight the company’s plans at the NEB.
“I am opposed to this re-route as it will damage the environmentally sensitive areas and wetlands on my property, lower the value of the property and provide permanent easement to Enbridge for further maintenance and open the door for future replacement re-routes,” says a letter distributed by Andrew Guiducci at an Enbridge open house.
The city rejects Enbridge’s plans to decommission the old pipeline and wants it removed instead. There are also concerns “relating to emergency response, natural heritage, sourcewater protection and corridor management” according to a staff report adopted by council, including potential impacts on “Provincially Significant Wetlands, Significant Woodlands, streams, and Environmentally Significant Areas” affected by the new right-of-way.
Staff also got council’s agreement to negotiate with Enbridge about pipe crossings of municipal roads about “issues such as liability, insurance, work-around costs, and notice”, noting that “currently there are no existing agreements relating to these crossings”. They obtained council’s pre-approval to draft and submit a letter of comment to the NEB, but under pressure from Matt Green agreed to share it with councillors if time permits.
But staff anticipate Enbridge will avoid formal NEB hearings which are not required for projects under 40 km and warn that the regulator “has discretion to determine who can participate” in the process. They also note that the new pipe construction and decommissioning of the old one “do not automatically trigger an environmental assessment”.
The situation is further complicated by reforms of the NEB promised by the new Liberal government early in the new year, and controversy over pre-mature appointments of NEB officers by the outgoing Conservatives that would block any change before 2020 (after the next election). Prime Minister Trudeau is asking one of those NEB appointees to voluntarily step down, but appears to have little other recourse to implement his pledge to “modernize the National Energy Board, ensuring that its composition reflects regional views and has sufficient expertise in fields like environmental science, community development, and Indigenous traditional knowledge.”
Hopes for substantial change have been tempered by the Minister of Natural Resources choice of a major oil lobbyist as his chief of staff. Janet Annesley was a Shell executive and past vice-president for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, one of the groups that convinced Stephen Harper to gut environmental laws. She also participated in a climate-deniers “freedom cruise” with Ezra Levant.
The NEB process and composition have sparked anger across the country, especially from First Nations who have filed more than a dozen legal actions including one by the Chippewas of the Thames arguing that their constitutional right to be adequately consulted was violated in the NEB approval last March of Line 9. They lost a 2-1 decision this summer in federal court, but are now seeking leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Support for that appeal, and other protests related to Line 9 are continuing. There was an occupation earlier this month at the Ontario-Quebec border, and an 800 km fundraising run along Line 9 is currently underway to support the Chippewas of the Thames appeal.