Human Resources and Corporate Planning Department
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The Corporation of Delta COUNCIL REPORT F.O Regular Meeting To: Mayor and Council From: Human Resources and Corporate Planning Department Date: January 26, 2016 Proposed Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project Update The following report has been reviewed and endorsed by the Chief Administrative Officer. .. RECOMMENDATIONS: A. THAT a letter from Mayor Lois E. Jackson be sent to the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada in support of the City of Burnaby's request to suspend the National Energy Board's review of the proposed Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project. B. THAT copies of this report and letter from Mayor Lois E. Jackson be provided to: i. The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Member of Parliament, Delta ii. Scott Hamilton, Member of the Legislative Assembly, Delta North iii. Vicki Huntington, Member of the Legislative Assembly, Delta South iv. Metro Vancouver Board of Directors v. Metro Vancouver Member Municipalities vi. Delta's Environment Advisory Committee .. PURPOSE: To provide an update on the National Energy Board review of the proposed Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project and recommend support for the Mayor of the City of Burnaby's request to the Prime Minister to suspend the National Energy Board review. " BACKGROUND: On December 16, 2013, Kinder Morgan filed a Facilities Application with the National Energy Board for the proposed $5.4 billion Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project. Kinder Morgan is proposing to expand the current Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to the Westridge Terminal on Burrard Inlet in Burnaby, BC. Directly affected communities in Metro Vancouver along the pipeline alignment include the Township of Langley, City of Surrey, City of Coquitlam and City of Burnaby. Page 2 of 4 Proposed Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project January 26,2016 If approved, the expansion would twin the existing pipeline, and would increase the capacity of the system from 300,000 barrels of oil per day to 890,000 barrels of oil per day. This would also result in a potential increase in marine traffic from 5 to 34 oil tankers per month calling upon the Westridge Terminal. The shipping lane that vessels use to reach the Westridge Terminal in Burrard Inlet at its closest point is approximately 10 kilometres from Delta's Brunswick Point dike. The review of the proposed Trans Mountain Expansion project includes an Environmental and Socio-Economic Impact Assessment and a Hearing process. The requirements of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act are addressed through the National Energy Board process. A 15,000 page application was submitted in early 2014 and the formal National Energy Board review process is currently ongoing with Intervenors submitting oral arguments. Metro Vancouver along with a number of member municipalities are designated intervenors in the National Energy Board Process. Rather than incurring significant costs and resources required to participate directly as an intervenor in the process, Delta Council made a request through a letter from Mayor Lois E. Jackson that Delta's comments and concerns be brought forward by Metro Vancouver. This letter and Council Report also set out a number of issues and concerns related to the increase in marine traffic and increased risk of spills that could impact the Fraser River estuary. This letter was followed up with additional detailed comments and a request that these be included in Metro Vancouver's written submission. Many of these comments and concerns have been shared by other local government intervenors in the process. " DISCUSSION: The National Energy Board process is currently at the oral hearing stage where intervenors (limited to two participants per intervenor) present the final arguments provided in their written submission. These hearings are being held from January 19 - 29 in Burnaby and February 1 - 5 in Calgary. Mayor Derek Corrigan from the City of Burnaby has sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau requesting a suspension of the National Energy Board review for the Trans Mountain project given the fact that the new Liberal government has acknowledged changes are required for how the National Energy Board reviews projects and has committed to amending the process. This letter is provided as Attachment A. Issues related to the process have been discussed in previous reports to Council and include concerns regarding the quality of the responses to the information requests submitted by intervenors. These "non-answers" provided by Kinder Morgan are addressed in Mayor Corrigan's letter with this statement: "It is evident that the National Energy Board process is broken, and there is little value in a fact-finding process that has no reasonable prospect for testing evidence. II The directly affected municipalities including the City of Burnaby have had no choice but to participate in an extremely complex and expensive process that has not resulted in meaningful responses or answers to important issues that have been raised. It is noted in Mayor Corrigan's letter that "the current review process has seen withdrawal of many approved intervenors, as one-by-one they have recognized its systemic unfairness." Concerns with the process were recognized early on by Delta's Chief Administrative Officer Page 3 of 4 Proposed Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project January 26,2016 leading to the recommendation to Council to not participate directly as an intervenor. The costs incurred by intervenors have been significant given the need for legal review and drafting of submissions and considerable staff resources allocated to the procedural requirements of the process. The City of Richmond is one approved intervenor that has withdrawn from the current phase of the review due to the fact it was estimated (in a public report to City Council) that it would cost between $160,000 and $245,000 in external legal costs for the City to participate directly in the written evidence and oral hearing portion of the process, in addition to considerable staff time. Mayor Lois E. Jackson has received a request from Mayor Derek Corrigan that she support his letter to the Prime Minister. Given the concerns regarding the National Energy Board review process previously identified by Delta, staff recommend that a letter be provided from Mayor Lois E. Jackson to the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada in support of the letter and request from the City of Burnaby that that the National Energy Board review process for the proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project be suspended to allow for the changes in the process promised by the new federal government. Next Steps If the process is not suspended by the Federal Government, the next step after the conclusion of the oral hearings on February 5 is for Kinder Morgan to respond to the written evidence submitted by the intervenors. Once this response is submitted, the hearing record closes and the National Energy Board has until May 20, 2016 to release its recommendation report to the Governor in Council and provide it to the Minister of Natural Resources for a decision. National Energy Board Audit In addition to concerns raised regarding the project review process, issues with how the National Energy Board addresses post-approval conditions have just recently emerged. On January 26, 2016, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada released an annual report that states the National Energy Board is failing to track pipeline approval conditions or follow up on compliance problems. The report states the National Energy Board isn't adequately checking to ensure the safe operation of some 73,000 kilometres of existing oil and gas pipelines operated by about 100 companies. The complete report is included as Attachment B. This report further strengthens the argument that the National Energy Board's review process for pipelines and its oversight of operations of these pipelines, needs substantial improvements to ensure the safety of the public and protection of the environment. Implications: Financial Implications - There are no financial implications to Delta. Metro Vancouver is covering its costs of participating as an intervenor in the National Energy Board process. Page 4 of 4 Proposed Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project January 26, 2016 • CONCLUSION: It is recommended that a letter from Mayor Lois E. Jackson be sent to the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada in support of the letter and request from the City of Burnaby that the National Energy Board review process for the proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project be suspended to allow for the changes in the process promised by the new federal government. d~ Director of Human Resources and Corporate Planning Department submission prepared by: Mike Brotherston, Manager of Climate Action and Environment This report has been prepared in consultation with the following listed departments. Concurrinq Departments Department Name Signature Office of Climate Action and Mike Brotherston Environment ~ • ATTACHMENTS: A. Letter from Mayor Derrick Corrigan, City of Burnaby to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau B. Report from the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada " Attachment A Page 1 of 3 CITY OF BURNABY OFFICE OF THE MAYOR DEREK R. CORRIGAN MAYOR January 11, 2016 The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau Prime Minister Office of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street, Ottawa, ON K1A OA2 Dear Prime Minister Trudeau: On November 10, 2015, I wrote to you regarding the City of Burnaby's appreciation for your recognition of the need for an overhaul of the National Energy Board process for review of pipeline projects in Canada. We are pleased that you made clear your understanding of the need for a new process to replace the politicized abdication of process introduced by the previous government.