Harvest Operations Corp. #2100, 330 – 5th Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta T2P 0L4 August 25, 2011 Anne-Marie Erickson Secretary of the Board National Energy Board 444 Seventh Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta T2P 0X8 Dear Ms. Erikson, RE: Supplemental Rare Plant Survey for the Proposed Harvest Operations Corp. (as 1057533 Alberta Ltd.) Gething Source Water Pipeline (NEB File: OF-Fac-OtherComm-Z027-2011-01 0101) Please find attached the following supplemental report for the proposed Harvest Operations Corp. (as 1057533 Alberta Ltd.) Gething Source Water Pipeline: • Supplemental Rare Plant Survey for the Proposed Harvest Operations Corp. (as 1057533 Alberta Ltd.) Gething Source Water Pipeline (August 2011). Please contact me by telephone at 403-233-6667 or by email at [email protected] if you have any questions. Sincerely, 1057533 Alberta Ltd. Daryl Baxandall Manager, Facilities 1057533 Alberta Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvest Operations Corp. Page 1 SUPPLEMENTAL RARE PLANT SURVEY FOR THE PROPOSED HARVEST OPERATIONS CORP (AS 1057533 ALBERTA LTD.) GETHING SOURCE WATER PIPELINE August 2011 7172 Prepared for: Prepared by: Harvest Operations Corp. TERA Environmental Consultants 2100, 330 - 5th Avenue S.W. Suite 1100, 815 - 8th Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta T2P 3P2 Calgary, Alberta T2P 0L4 Ph: 403-265-2885 Harvest Operations Corp. Supplemental Rare Plant Survey Gething Source Water Pipeline August 2011 / 7172 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Objectives ........................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 METHODS ....................................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Rare Plant Survey ............................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Non-Native and Invasive Species ....................................................................................... 3 2.3 Forest Pests ........................................................................................................................ 3 3.0 KNOWN SPECIES OF CONCERN ................................................................................................. 4 3.1 Federal Species of Concern ............................................................................................... 4 3.2 Provincial Species of Concern ............................................................................................ 4 4.0 RESULTS ......................................................................................................................................... 5 4.1 Survey Limitations ............................................................................................................... 5 4.2 Rare Plants and Rare Ecological Communities .................................................................. 5 4.3 Non-Native and Invasive Species ....................................................................................... 5 4.4 Forest Pests ........................................................................................................................ 5 5.0 DISCUSSION AND MITIGATION RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................. 6 5.1 General Vegetation Recommendations .............................................................................. 6 6.0 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................. 7 6.1 Literature Cited .................................................................................................................... 7 6.2 GIS Data and Mapping References .................................................................................... 8 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Aerial View .......................................................................................................................... 2 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A Observed Plant Species – By Type and Common Name ................................................... 9 Page i Harvest Operations Corp. Supplemental Rare Plant Survey Gething Source Water Pipeline August 2011 / 7172 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1057533 Alberta Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvest Operations Corp. (Harvest) based in Calgary, Alberta. Harvest has applied to the National Energy Board (NEB) under Section 58 of the NEB Act for approval to construct and operate approximately 6.6 km of 168.3 mm (6 inch) outside diameter (O.D.) pipeline to transport non-potable (saline) water from a new source water well in 12-11-111-12 W6M near Rainbow Lake in northwest Alberta to the existing Harvest Hay Pad site located at a-61-H/94-I-9 in northeast British Columbia (BC) (Figure 1). The 12-11-111-12 W6M location was chosen since it is the closest, most promising location for a significant source of injection water. The purpose of the source water pipeline is to provide additional water injection capacity at the a-61-H/94-I-9 pad site for reservoir pressure maintenance to enhance the Hay Pad site production. The additional water injection volumes are needed to replace current injection water shortages from the existing area water supply wells. The proposed source water pipeline will be constructed within a 15 m wide right-of-way aligned adjacent to Harvest's existing all-weather access road and a proposed powerline easement within Alberta and directly adjacent to Harvest's all-weather access road within BC. Construction will be conducted off of the existing all-weather access road and the proposed powerline easement, with the exception of two 10 m by 30 m areas of temporary workspace that will be required on both sides of a crossing of the Little Hay River in BC. Subject to regulatory approval, construction of the source water pipeline will commence during dry, nonfrozen conditions in fall 2011 or frozen conditions in late 2011 or early 2012. Construction is expected to last approximately five weeks with operation start-up planned upon completion. Harvest is planning to conduct a trenchless crossing of the Little Hay River immediately upon approval. As part of the NEB Section 58 Application, an Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment (ESA) was prepared by TERA Environmental Consultants (TERA) (TERA 2011a). To support the application, TERA was commissioned by Harvest to conduct rare plant field work along the proposed pipeline route. TERA conducted a rare plant habitat assessment on October 21, 2010 and the results were presented in the Rare Plant Habitat Assessment report (TERA 2011b). To supplement the field work conducted in October 2010, TERA conducted a supplemental rare plant survey along the proposed pipeline route in July 2011. The following report provides the results of the supplemental rare plant survey. For ease of description, the proposed pipeline route is described using Kilometre Posts (KPs), from the source water well in 12-11-111-12 W6M (KP 0.0) to the existing Harvest Hay Pad site in a-61-H/94-I-9 (KP 6.6) (Figure 1). 1.1 Objectives The objectives of the supplemental rare plant survey were to: • identify any rare plant species and rare ecological communities along the proposed route as defined by the Species at Risk Act (SARA), the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), the Alberta Wildlife Act, the BC Wildlife Act, the BC Identified Wildlife program, the Alberta Conservation Information Management System (ACIMS) and the BC Conservation Data Centre (CDC); • identify any uncommon sites or habitat features along the proposed route with high potential to support rare plant species; • record the abundance and distribution of non-native, invasive species; and • provide mitigation recommendations in the event that rare plants, rare ecological communities or invasive species infestations are observed. Page 1 20 111-12-6 21 111-12-6 22 A 111-12-6 I AUGUST 2011 B ¯ FIGURE 1 M AERIAL VIEW U A L SUPPLEMENTAL 71 T O RARE PLANT SURVEY R FOR THE C E PROPOSED HARVEST B H OPERATIONS CORP. GETHING L S SOURCE WATER PIPELINE I A T 7172 I e r R i v B R Proposed Well Site a y L H i t t l e ! Existing Well Site Existing Well Site 61 17 a-61-H/94-I-9 111-12-6 16 !. Kilometre Post 111-12-6 15 111-12-6 14 )!! !. 111-12-6 Proposed Pipeline KP 6.6 Existing Pipeline KP 6 Existing Access Road !. Provincial Boundary 51 SCALE: 1: 30,000 m 94I9H 0 200 400 600 (ALL LOCATIONS APPROXIMATE) Proposed Water Source Well 12-11-111-12 W6M KP 5 8 KP 4 9 !. 111-12-6 KP 3 !. 111-12-6 KP 2 !. !. )! !. !.KP 0 41 11 10 111-12-6 111-12-6 ! Date of Imagery: November 5, 2010; SPOT 5 Satellite Imagery 2010 CNES, Licensed by ! Iunctus Geomatics Corp., www.TerraEngine.com; Existing Well Sites and Pipelines, Access Roads: IHS Inc., 2011; Hydrology: IHS Inc, 2004. Although there is no reason to believe that there are any errors associated with the data used to generate this product or in the product itself, users of these data are advised that errors in the data may be present. 31 PROJECT AREA 5 111-12-6 4 111-12-6 3 ALBERTA 111-12-6 2 Edmonton 111-12-6 21 Calgary t7172_Veg_Overview_Figure1_Landscape.mxd Harvest Operations Corp. Supplemental Rare Plant Survey Gething Source Water Pipeline August 2011 / 7172 2.0 METHODS The proposed pipeline traverses the Central Mixedwood Natural Subregion of Alberta and the Boreal