Northern gateway pipelineBy Compiled By Dave Cooper and Edmonton Journal, Vancouver Sun December 31, 2011 http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Northern+gateway+pipeline/5932443/story.html Photograph by: Yuri Gripas, Reuters, Vancouver Sun 1) The line would start near Bruderheim in the Alberta Industrial Heartland region northwest of Edmonton, an area that contains Canada's largest collection of petrochemical plants and upgraders, as well as other industries ranging from fertilizer to industrial gas production. 2) The 1,172 kilometre Gateway is actually two lines. A 36-inch line flowing west would transport 525,000 of condensate bitumen per day - the heavy bitumen must be thinned by adding a light petroleum component called condensate, which represents about 30 per cent of the volume. A parallel 20-inch line will transport imported condensate eastward from Kitimat to Bruderheim. Condensate is currently imported by tanker into Kitimat and transported by rail to Alberta. 3) Enbridge estimates that Gateway will create 62,700 person-years of construction employment worth $4.3 billion in labour-related income throughout the Canadian economy. The peak workforce would be 3,000 during construction. The pipeline will also create 1,150 direct and indirect long-term jobs and pay about $2.6 billion in taxes, and its operations, this does not include the many billions of dollars that would flow to governments in taxes and royalties for the oil produced to fill the pipeline, and the higher prices achieved by tapping into the Asian marketplace. 4) Enbridge plans to have two mooring berths at its new terminal in Kitimat, with 14 storage tanks for oil and condensate. It will add navigation radar at Kitimat and along the B.C. coast to increase safety for all shipping, as well as crews and equipment available for a rapid response if there are problems. There will be 165 long-term jobs created at the terminal, to run the fleet of power tugs that will shepherd the large tankers down the inlet to the Pacific. Alberta and Ottawa support the Gateway. 5) Alberta Premier Alison Redford: "Asia's star is rising and it will dominate the 21st Century. We can guarantee national prosperity for a long time to come by supplying them with the energy that they need." Federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver: "We believe that we have to have access to Asian markets for our energy products, for our oil and gas," he said. "That is clearly in our national interest. We'll survive without it, but not nearly in the same way." 6) B.C. Premier Christy Clark has not yet come out one way or another on the project. However, she recently said: "British Columbia's coast does not just belong to British Columbia, it belongs to Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces and it's essential that our ports and our infrastructure all across the West are functioning as well as they possibly can ... That's what allows trade to flow inside our country and that's what puts people to work." 7) Most First Nations reject the project: Gerald Amos, a member of the Haisla First Nation near the pipeline's Kitimat end point and director of the Headwaters Initiative: "As a famous prime minister once said, just watch us ... Everyone involved, including myself, have made commitments to one another, that we will do whatever it takes, legally and otherwise, to stop this project." As do environmental activists: Katie Terhune, energy campaign manager at the Living Oceans Society: "One mistake in navigation and we could have a catastrophe in one of the most beautiful places on earth. The only way to truly protect our province is to not introduce oil tankers or the Northern Gateway pipeline at all." Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, international program director for U.S.-based NRDC: "There really is no safe risk-free way to get oilsands oil and pipelines and super tankers across British Columbia's ecosystem." 8) Pipeline corrosion: Environmental groups say diluted bitumen is more likely to cause corrosion in the pipelines, and is more acidic, thicker and more sulphuric than conventional crude. But a recent study by Alberta Innovates found diluted bitumen crudes had acid, sulphur and chloride salt concentrations comparable to many conventional crudes. These ingredients can cause corrosion at temperatures above 200?C at refineries, but are too stable at lower pipeline temperatures to cause significant corrosion. 9) Aboriginal equity: Enbridge is offering a stake in the pipeline project to eligible communities, up to 10 per cent of the $5.5 billion project Full financing can be provided, and it estimates that share ownership will generate $280 million in net income to the communities over the first 30 years of the project. The company says perhaps two dozen communities are interested in the offer. Activists say 130 communities are opposed to Gateway. 10) The hearings: The Joint Review Panel conducting the review of the controversial Enbridge Inc. project on behalf of the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency starts public hearings in Kitamaat Village on Jan. 10. Final arguments are scheduled for April 2013, and an environmental assessment report should be ready in the fall of 2013. More than 4,000 people are expected to address the panel. 11) Global demand: The International Energy Agency forecasts the demand for fossil fuels will rise by 36 per cent by 2035, with 36 per cent of the increase coming from China alone. Alberta oilsands and Venezulean heavy oil will dominate the production mix in the future, it adds. Oil from Kitimat must travel about 8,300 km to the Far East target markets of South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China. By comparison, Persian Gulf oil must travel about 10,000 km, while Venezulean crude must take a 16,000 km journey. GRAPHIC: RICK COLVILLE, EDMONTON JOURNAL AND MAGGIE WONG, VANCOUVER SUN Seen by industry and government as a critical link between the Alberta oilsands and growing markets in Asia, the $5.5 billion Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project is opposed by most B.C. First Nations who fear spills will destroy their way of life, and a coalition of environmental activist groups battling further expansion of the "tar sands". Regulatory hearings into project begin this month in Kitimat, with a final decision not expected for another two years. Photograph by: Todd Korol, Reuters, Vancouver Sun ________________________________
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