Ottawa to hear case for pipeline

An oil pipeline to the West Coast moved a step closer to fruition after regulatory agencies Friday geared up to begin considering Calgarybased Enbridge's plans to build the $4-billion Gateway line to Kitimat, but environmental and native groups in British Columbia are already lining up against the project.

Both the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the National Energy Board announced an agreement to create a joint review panel to consider both the environmental and regulatory issues surrounding the 1,200-kilometre link from Edmonton to Kitimat, B.C.

"It's a very significant, positive step for us," said Steve Greenaway, vice-president of public and government affairs forEnbridge NorthernGateway, an operating subsidiary charged with building the line.

The next step is to appoint the review panel, which could happen in a matter of weeks, said Greenaway. Enbridge expects to submit its formal application in the first quarter of 2010 and hopes to begin public hearings late next year. If approved, construction would likely begin in 2013, he added.

Kristen Higgins, a spokeswoman with the National Energy Board, said the joint review is meant to streamline the process by combining the environmental and regulatory reviews.

"It's streamlined, but by no means is it cutting corners," she said.

Enbridge is proposing to build two parallel lines--one 525,000-barrel-a-day oil pipe running west and a 193,000-barrel-a-day condensate line running east. Condensate is commonly used as a diluting agent to thin heavy oil and bitumen to make it flow easier.

If built, the pipeline would see oilsands production shipped to the coast for export on tankers, potentially opening Alberta's oilsands to new markets in Asia and abroad. Currently, nearly all of Alberta's production is shipped over land via pipelines to the U.S. Midwest and the Gulf of Mexico.

But B.C. activists and native groups say they are already bracing for a fight to stop both the pipeline and the prospect of tanker traffic off the coast.

Eric Swanson, a campaigner with the Dogwood Initiative, a non-government organization based in Victoria, said memories of the Exxon-Valdez oil spill still reverberate in B.C.

A 2006 poll commissioned by Dogwood found 72 per cent oppose opening coastal waters to tanker traffic.

"A lot of people outside B.C. don't realize the long-standing sentiment in B.C. against tanker traffic in the North Coast. If no tankers happen, there will be no pipeline," Swanson said in an interview. "I'd re-name Enbridge's project the 'Gateway to Nowhere.' "

Enbridge wouldn't operate the tankers per se, but resistance from inland tribes that would have to allow the pipeline to cross their traditional lands is also stiffening.

Likewise, the Nadleh Whut'en Indian Band in Fort Fraser issued a statement calling Friday's announcement "a step in the wrong direction." Enbridge proposes to cross approximately 50 kilometres of Nadleh Whut'en territory in the northern interior.

"We are prepared to defend our rights and title through all necessary means, including through the Canadian courts," said Chief Larry Nooski.

In addition, the West Coast Environmental Law foundation based in Vancouver threatened legal action "for years to come" if the federal government doesn't follow the letter of the law in conducting its environmental review. It said more than 99 per cent of projects that come before the environmental assessment agency are ultimately approved.

In addition to the threat of potentially devastating oil spills, Gateway would facilitate the growth of greenhouse gas emissions from the oil-sands, it added.

"Opening our sensitive northern waters, salmon stocks, and communities to oil supertankers and inevitable oil spills from projects like Enbridge's is a risk that the vast majority of British Columbians are not willing to take," Jessica Clogg, the group's executive director and senior counsel said in a news release.

The environmental assessment agency said it has made $600,000 available for interveners to participate in the review, with a deadline for funding applications of Dec. 18.

spolczer@theherald. canwest.com