Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a political gamble Tuesday, approving the expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline, a move that will undoubtedly gain him support in Alberta and cost him support in B.C.
But the gamble is bigger for British Columbians, as the pipeline project, if completed, would mean a huge boost in tanker traffic in B.C. waters and an increased risk of a catastrophic oil spill.
At the same time, Trudeau effectively killed the Northern Gateway proposal, the pipeline Enbridge proposed to build to carry bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands through the Great Bear Rainforest to Kitimat, where it would be loaded onto tankers headed for Asian markets. The thick bitumen would need to be diluted for transport, and a second pipeline was proposed to carry the diluting chemicals back to Alberta for reuse.
That project has been stalled in the courts for lack of proper consultation with aboriginal groups. It is so heavily opposed by First Nations, climate-change activists and environmental groups that it had little chance of succeeding, regardless of federal approval.
Ottawa also approved Enbridge’s Line 3, a little-known project that would replace and double the capacity of a decades-old line connecting Hardisty, Alta., to Superior, Wisconsin. Enbridge says the upgrades are essential to the safety and maintenance of the existing line.
The federal government’s decisions are not surprising. Trudeau has been trying to do a balancing act, walking the talk on climate-change measures while trying to protect and enhance the economy, which has been hard hit by lower oil prices and the limited ability of Alberta to get its oil to offshore customers.
The economic argument is appealing.
“There isn’t a country in the world that would find billions of barrels of oil and leave it in the ground while there is a market for it,” Trudeau said at Tuesday’s news conference. “Our challenge is to use today’s wealth to create tomorrow’s opportunity.”
The $6.8-billion Trans Mountain project, if completed, will triple the capacity of Kinder Morgan’s existing line from northern Alberta to Burnaby to 890,000 barrels a day.
That’s good news for Alberta, which has been suffering from low oil prices and difficulties in getting its oil to market.
But if the pipeline is completed, Albertans won’t notice much — everything will be underground. It’s different for British Columbians — the pipeline would mean a highly visible sevenfold increase in tanker traffic from Burrard Inlet through Juan de Fuca Strait, from five tankers a month to 34.
Trudeau said the Kinder Morgan project “meets the strictest of environmental standards and fits within our national climate plan.” That includes 157 binding conditions set out by the National Energy Board.
But no number of conditions set by the NEB can guarantee a tanker won’t encounter extremely rough seas or be blown onto rocks. Such incidents are not common, but neither are they particularly rare, and it takes only one to cause incalculable and long-lasting damage to our shores and coastal waters. We would pay a high price for Alberta’s prosperity.
The Liberal government’s approval of the Kinder Morgan project doesn’t mean clear sailing. The opposition to the project is fierce in B.C., and elsewhere, and if the Clayoquot Sound protests of 1993 are any indication, Kinder Morgan’s battle is a long way from over.
