Trans Mountain has yet to meet all of the conditions set by the National Energy Board (NEB) to start construction next month on the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby.
The company has satisfied 27 of the 49 conditions for that portion of the expansion project, according to a letter the NEB sent to Jim Carr, Canada’s minister of natural resources, to update him on how things are progressing.
“Additional compliance requirements must be met for the company to begin construction on any portion of the project,” the letter reads.
The Trans Mountain expansion project will have crews twin the Edmonton-to-Burnaby pipeline, which will increase capacity from 300,000 barrels of oil per day to 890,000.
Part of the project includes expanding the Westridge Marine Terminal. A new dock complex with three berths and a utility dock is in the works. Actual construction, however, isn’t scheduled to start until 2018. Trans Mountain intends to spend the remainder of this year and part of next year preparing the site.
Trans Mountain spokesperson Ali Hounsell said the company is “confident” it will satisfy the NEB’s conditions to start construction in September.
“The Trans Mountain expansion project is in an ongoing process to meet the conditions required by the NEB to begin construction. This process will continue in-step with our activities into the future, keeping in mind that the construction of the project is phased and condition compliance will be ongoing as construction is underway,” she said in an emailed statement to the NOW.
The $7.4-billion pipeline project, which has a total of 157 conditions attached to it, received federal approval in 2016, and the former ruling B.C. Liberals OK’d it earlier this year. However, Premier John Horgan and B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver are opposed to the expansion and have said they’ll work to stop it.
On Aug. 22, the province officially applied for intervener status for court challenges against the expansion. The Federal Court of Canada has combined 19 lawsuits from First Nations, local governments and environmental organizations into one. Those suits want the court to overturn the NEB’s review process into the project.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Attorney General David Eby said the province is still developing the arguments it will bring to the court if it attains intervener status.
Meanwhile, the NEB’s letter to the federal government notes 452 statements of opposition have been filed, including five from Indigenous groups and 121 from landowners.
“The panel is currently reviewing these and will determine the detailed route hearing requirements in the near future. Hearing processes are expected to begin in the fall and last several months,” states the letter.
An emergency response exercise is planned for late September, according to the board.
“This exercise will include deployment of personnel and first responders with equipment to the exercise site, and will test the company’s ability to respond to an emergency and work effectively with first responders. NEB staff will participate in the evaluation of the exercise.”
