CITY of North Vancouver council had some skeptical questions last week for proponents of a pipeline project that would result in five times as many oil tankers passing through Burrard Inlet.
Representatives of Kinder Morgan appeared before council Nov. 5 to answer questions and clear up some misconceptions about their plan to twin the Trans Mountain pipeline, which runs from Edmonton to Burnaby's Westridge terminal.
Kinder Morgan spokesman Mike Davies stressed to council that there are several popular myths circulating about what Trans Mountain's expansion would mean for local shipping.
"The size of the ships that we load at the Westridge terminal is not going to change as a result of this expansion and we don't need to dredge Second Narrows," he said.
Also, diluted bitumen, which the Trans Mountain line would carry and load onto tankers bound for the United States and Asia, does float, as it is less dense than water, he added.
But council had a host of questions about Kinder Morgan's business, the approval process with the National Energy Board, and the environmental risk that pipeline and shipping communities faced.
Coun. Craig Keating was the most critical, noting that the environmental process Kinder Morgan must go through will not take into account the energy-intensive process of extracting oil sands or the consequences of increased carbon in the atmosphere and climate change that results.
"I don't think we're looking that far upstream in terms of production issues . . . for a pipeline project that's not normally part of an application," Davies said.
The pipeline issue needs to be put in the larger context of climate change, hurricanes and the federal government's policy of encouraging the extraction of oil sands and selling them abroad, Keating argued.
"Talk to the people in Richmond and White Rock and Delta where the sea is there. It is rising and it's because of policies like this. We have to have a discussion about whether we want a pipeline that facilitates this sort of thing," he said.
Coun. Don Bell questioned Davies on the ability to respond to a spill that may happen at the Westridge terminal, similar to the one that happened in 2007, when a spill on land leaked into a sewer outflow and into Burrard Inlet, including some that escaped the protective boom meant to isolate spilled oil.
The Western Canada Marine Response Corporation responded quickly, Davies said, and would be stationed nearby.
"There was a sheen outside of the boom. There was some material outside the boom but the majority of the material was captured by the WCMRC" Davies said.
The company has reported having 78 spills on its pipeline since 1961, some of which were smaller than the 1.5 cubic metres required to be reported, but never had a spill while loading a marine tanker ship, Davies said.
There is a hypocrisy associated with the federal government's support of oil exports at a time when other levels of government are looking for ways to reduce carbon output, Coun. Pam Bookham noted.
"I can't square the idea that we are supposed to be reducing our own energy consumption at the same time we are promoting this component of our economy. It just doesn't make sense," she said.
Mayor Darrell Mussatto acknowledged the double-edged sword that is being a country rich in fossil fuels. "I think the issue of expanding fossil fuels will soon be the issue of our time.
"It's quite a complex issue. On one hand, we're dealing with the consequences of increased carbon in our atmosphere and the effects of climate change. . . . At the same time, Canada relies on exporting natural resources, some of which are coal, oil and gas, to keep our lifestyle the way we have it," he said.
