{"id":1604,"date":"2013-10-23T19:17:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-23T19:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rf.podcastfixit.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/23\/pipeline-reversal-hearings-wrap-up\/"},"modified":"2015-06-01T19:41:32","modified_gmt":"2015-06-01T19:41:32","slug":"pipeline-reversal-hearings-wrap-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2013\/10\/23\/pipeline-reversal-hearings-wrap-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Pipeline reversal hearings wrap up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ruling on oil artery through Laval, East End expected by January <\/i><\/b>
\n
<\/b>
\nBy Robert Frank<\/b>
\nwww.thesuburban.com<\/a><\/p>\n

For nearly 40 years, up to three barrels of oil per second has coursed through Enbridge\u2019s Sarnia-Montreal pipeline, almost unnoticed. The crude quietly wended its way 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. First, it came from Western Canada. Later the flow was reversed, carrying overseas oil westward. <\/p>\n

Judging by the commotion surrounding National Energy Board (NEB) hearings to restore the flow to the eastbound direction that the pipeline was originally designed for, casual observers could be forgiven for thinking that a new, risky viaduct was instead being planned.<\/p>\n

Community and environmental groups in Southern Ontario and Western Quebec deplored the oil economy, global warming and warned of dire pollution risks. Unions and business groups, in turn, duly reminded NEB decision makers that the artery is the lifeblood of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and is important to the country\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the most important issues that the NEB has to consider are:<\/p>\n

\u2022 whether making the oil flow the other way is inherently more dangerous;<\/p>\n

\u2022 whether the slightly heavier crude that Enbridge has asked permission to carry could increase the risk of a spill; and<\/p>\n

\u2022 whether the pipeline is capable of safely handling the 20 percent higher maximum capacity that Enbridge wants (nearly 3.5 barrels\/second).<\/p>\n

Enbridge has achieved an exemplary safety record for its Sarnia-Montreal line, known as 9B. In 38 years of operation, it has never experienced a major safety mishap.<\/p>\n

Environment activists like Adam Scott have, for their part, undermined their own credibility by suggesting that Enbridge has asked to carry a more dangerous form of oil sands crude, which is initially dug up in Alberta.<\/p>\n

\u201cShipping diluted bitumen as is being proposed is considerably more risky,\u201d Scott told CBC. \u201cIf there was a spill, those chemicals would evaporate very quickly and cause an immediate health risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cScott is using hysterical language in place of the facts,\u201d Enbridge\u2019s Calgary-based spokesman Graham White told The Suburban.<\/i> \u201cWe will not be shipping large quantities of heavies, let alone diluted bitumen along this line. It will largely remain a light crude line as it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll crude oil is hazardous,\u201d he acknowledged, but insisted that science is on Enbridge\u2019s side. \u201c[The crude that 9B will carry] is no more toxic than any other transmission grade of crude.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the not-in-my-back-yard reaction that Enbridge has faced, all the alternatives to moving oil to market seem worse.<\/p>\n

Last week, the Fraser Institute<\/a> published a report<\/a> warning of the greater danger of shifting oil transport to road, rail or the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway waterway. The danger remains palpable in Quebec, with the tragic Lac M\u00e9gantic inferno fresh in public memory.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt present, resistance to pipeline transport is sending oil to market by modes of transport that pose higher risks of spills and personal injuries such as rail and road transport,\u201d cautioned the Fraser report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLine 9B was originally operated in the eastbound direction,\u201d Enbridge vice-president Walter Kresic told The Suburban,<\/i> \u201cso it will be doing what it was designed to do. The pipeline is a fairly simple structure designed to operate in both directions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NEB has already approved the reversal of the western section of line 9, just past Toronto.<\/p>\n

It is expected to rule on the eastern half by January, at the latest.<\/p>\n

The Quebec government stated in February that it also plans to review Enbridge\u2019s proposal. However, it has not yet disclosed how it plans to do so.<\/p>\n

Support for the pipeline reversal is strong in Quebec, where economic benefits will abound. <\/p>\n

Most interveners at the NEB hearings in Montreal two weeks ago spoke in favour of the plan. In contrast, only NEB heard only two presentations supporting the reversal during it\u2019s public hearing last week in Toronto. <\/p>\n

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