http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/northern-gateway-overshadows-ottawas-marine-safety-project/article16293925/
Northern Gateway overshadows Ottawa’s marine-safety project
MARK HUME
VANCOUVER — The Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Jan. 13 2014, 8:00 AM EST
Last updated Monday, Jan. 13 2014, 8:00 AM EST
The federal government has launched a major new project, known as the
World Class Initiative, which is intended to make Canada’s waters safer
from shipping accidents and gain the social licence needed to increase
marine transportation of oil and gas.
But the primary initial focus of that project may surprise people. It’s
aimed at Douglas Channel, the long, narrow inlet that leads to Kitimat,
which at this point is not a major petro shipping route.
In December, the National Energy Board’s joint review panel recommended
conditional approval of Enbridge’s controversial Northern Gateway project.
But cabinet has not yet ruled on whether the pipeline can go ahead. If
it does, up to 250 oil tankers a year would start navigating British
Columbia’s Douglas Channel, calling at the Kitimat marine terminal.
The federal government is not waiting for that decision, however, and is
already pushing ahead on a project intended to give Canada “a world
class tanker safety system.”
Denis Lebel, then minister of transport, and Joe Oliver, Minister of
Natural Resources, described it that way when they laid out the broad
strokes of the program in a joint news conference in Vancouver last March.
“There will be no pipeline development without rigorous environmental
protection measures and the tanker safety initiatives we are announcing
today are an important aspect of our plan for responsible resource
development,” Mr. Oliver said at the time.
He announced several measures to strengthen the nation’s tanker safety
system, including increased ship inspections, a review of existing
pilotage and tug-escort requirements, new aids to navigation and
scientific research into what happens when bitumen is spilled in the
marine environment.
What he didn’t say was that Douglas Channel was going to be the model
for the development of that system, which is expected to be in place on
all three coasts by 2018.
Several departments are involved and at least $120-million in funding
has already been secured.
When the government was asked about the timing, funding and goals of the
World Class Initiative project last week, officials responded by sending
a link to a 185-page review of marine safety related to the Enbridge
project that makes no mention of the World Class Initiative.
Although the government announced the general objectives of the project
in Vancouver, the details so far have been kept quiet.
When a group of research scientists at the federal Institute of Ocean
Sciences, near Victoria, were briefed on the project, they were told,
said one who was there, “not to repeat to anyone the information to be
discussed at this meeting.”
What they heard was that $78-million had been approved over three years
for phase 1a, “[to] focus on Douglas Channel and diluted bitumen. ”
An additional $42-million was in place for phase 1b, “to operationalize
the elements of 1a so that there is a system running 24/7 that provides
an oil spill response capability for Douglas Channel/Kitimat area … [and
to] build an end-to-end modelling system for Canada.”
One slide that flashed on the screen stated: “The World Class Initiative
is huge.”
Another stated: “Social licence is needed to increase transport of oil
and gas.”
The scientist who attended that session said the oil-spill modelling
system proposed for Douglas Channel would be the most sophisticated this
county has ever seen.
“Presently there is nothing remotely comparable to this in place in
Canada,” he said.
There can be no doubt that Canadians want to ensure oil-tanker traffic
is as safe as it can be. But by focusing on Douglas Channel, Ottawa can
only fuel the fear (already widely felt in B.C.) that the federal
government made up its mind to approve the Enbridge project before the
NEB hearings finished.
--
Darryl McMahon
Failure is not an option;
it comes standard.
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