Terasen Pipelines (Trans Mountain) Inc. Environmental Assessment TMX - Anchor Loop Project Section 5.1 5.0 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC SETTING OF PIPELINE AND FACILITIES 5.1 Introduction The following section is a summary of the environmental and socio-economic conditions for the Proposed Route of the TMX – Anchor Loop Project. It was compiled from technical studies conducted in 2004 and 2005, and has been supplemented where warranted with materials listed in Section 5.5. 5.1.1 Spatial Boundaries Five spatial boundaries were used to describe the environmental and socio-economic conditions within the Project area. These spatial boundaries were determined using Guide A.2.4 Description of the Environmental and Socio-Economic Setting of the NEB Filing Manual (2004). The spatial boundaries considered for describing the environmental and socio-economic conditions include one or more of the following study areas (Figure 5.1): • A Project Footprint study area made up the area directly disturbed by assessment, construction and clean-up activities, including associated physical works and activities (i.e., permanent right-of-way, temporary construction workspace, temporary access routes, temporary stockpile sites, temporary staging areas, construction work camps, off load areas, borrow pits, facility sites). • A Local Study Area (LSA) consisting of a 2 km buffer centered on the proposed pipeline right-of-way. The LSA is based on the typical ‘indirect footprint’ of pipeline facilities and activities (i.e., the zone of influence within which plants (50 m), animals (500 m), and humans (500-800 m) are most likely to be affected by project construction and operation. For the pump stations, the LSA consists of a 1 km radius centred on the pump station site. • A Regional Study Area (RSA) including 9,319 km2 captured in the ten 1:50,000 map sheets that could be affected by the Project. Includes the following communities most likely to experience socio- economic effects of the Project: Hinton; Jasper townsite; Tete Jaune Cache; and Valemount. • A Supra-regional Study Area (SRSA) extending beyond the RSA but within the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia (BC). • A Continental Area extending outside Canada. This includes the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) corridor proposed for wide ranging species such as grizzly bear and wolves. The ecological boundary is described within the discussions of each element. Spatial ecological boundaries were determined by the distribution, movement patterns and potential zones of interaction between an element and the Project. The ecological boundary may be limited to the Project Footprint (e.g., pipeline easement or facility) or extend beyond the physical boundaries of the area of the Project component since the distribution or movement of an element can be local, regional, supra-regional or continental in extent. November 2005 Page 5-1 3739 344600 354600 364600 374600 384600 394600 404600 414600 424600 434600 444600 454600 464600 474600 William A. Switzer Provincial Park R 1 R 27 R K8L 327 R 7 R 6 R 5 R 4 R 3 R 2 W6M W5M R 26 R 25 R 24 T 51 YK NWT Rock Lake - Yukon Solomon Creek Hinton 0 0 0 0 9 Northwest Wildland Provincial Park 9 3 3 1 Territories 1 9 9 5 5 Nunavut AK Fort T 50 McMurray KP 310 Dawson British Wildhorse PROJECT FOOTPRINT Creek Columbia Alberta 0 Lake PRA 0 0 Scale 1:3,000 Prince Brûlé 0 9 Grande Prairie 9 3 Rupert BRITISH 3 0 0 9 9 5 COLUMBIA ALBERTA CANADA 5 Prince Stony George Plain Edmonton Hinto n KP 326.7 Hinton Va lem ou nt Jasp er Saskatchewan Williams Manitoba Ontario ALBERTA Valemount Jasper Red Deer Lake WA T 49 83E/08 83F/05 Hinton BC Banff Calgary MT ND Kamloops MI 0 Medicine OR MN 0 0 Whistler Hat 0 9 Merritt ID 9 3 83E/03 83E/01 Kelowna USA 3 9 83 E/2 83F/04 WI 9 8 SD 8 5 Vancouver 5 Nanaimo CANADA WY 083D/14 83D/16 Abbotsford 83C/13 US A CA Victoria NV IA Valemount UT NE 83D/15 Jasper IL CO T 48 SUPRA-REGIONAL STUDY AREA CONTINENTAL STUDY AREA REGIONAL STUDY AREA Scale 1:20,000,000 Scale 1:37,000,000 83E/3 Scale 1:3,000,000 0 83E/2 0 0 0 9 9 3 3 8 8 8 8 5 5 Mount Robson T 47 KP 468 Provincial Park Jasper Rearguard Falls National Park 0 0 Provincial Park 0 0 9 9 3 3 7 7 8 8 KP 466.3 5 5 Whitehorse Wildland T 46 Provincial Park 0 0 0 Mount 0 9 9 3 3 6 6 8 Terry Fox KP 406 8 5 Jackman TMX - ANCHOR LOOP 5 Provincial Park Flats Provincial PROJECT Park 83D/14 83D/15 Jasper STUDY AREA BOUNDARIES LEGEND Valemount Proposed TMX - Anchor Loop 0 0 0 0 9 Existing Trans Mountain Pipeline (TMPL) 9 3 3 5 5 8 Local Study Area (1 km buffer) 8 5 5 Regional Study Area Park and Protected Areas City/Town N N A A I I Park and Protected Areas: Government of Alberta 2004; BC Parks Victoria 2004. D D I I Hillshade: Government of Canada 2005. R R City/Town: Government of Canada 2003, Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, The Atlas of Canada. E E 0 0 0 Although there is no reason to believe that there are any errors associated with the data used to generate this product or in 0 M M 9 9 the product itself, users of these data are advised that errors in the data may be present. 3 3 4 4 H 8 8 H 5 5 T T F X I I SCALE: 1:350,000 F B R I T I S H S km A L B E R T A 0 2.5 5 10 LOCAL STUDY AREA C O L U M B I A (All Locations Approximate) Scale 1:350,000 3739 November 2005 FIGURE 5.1 0 0 0 0 9 9 3 3 3 3 8 8 5 344600 354600 364600 374600 384600 394600 404600 414600 424600 434600 444600 454600 464600 474600 5 00_3739_EA_FIG5-1_Study_Area.mxd Terasen Pipelines (Trans Mountain) Inc. Environmental Assessment TMX - Anchor Loop Project Section 5.1 5.1.2 Information Collection Methodology The information used to determine the current environmental and socio-economic setting along the Proposed Route and associated facilities was compiled from the following sources: • supporting studies conducted by Terasen Pipelines in support of the Project. Original citations and references are provided in the Technical Reports, which are produced as separate documents to this EA report; • existing published literature including topographic maps, aerial photography, scientific papers, reference books as well as municipal, provincial and federal government maps, reports, Codes of Practice, guides, information letters and databases. These sources are cited in Section 5.5; and • personal communications with regulatory agencies, local environmental nongovernment organizations, Aboriginal groups, landowners, local stakeholders, local and municipal government, federal and provincial government agencies and the general public. Methods of obtaining resource material included searching libraries (i.e., in-house, provincial government, university and public), receiving documents directly from government agencies and using the Internet. All references used in the preparation of the environmental and socio-economic setting of the Project are cited in Section 5.5. The technical studies conducted include: • Geotechnical Report • Soil Assessment Report • Greenhouse Gas Emissions Technical Report • Fish and Fish Habitat Investigations • Wetlands Technical Report • Vegetation Technical Report • Wildlife and Wildlife Habitat Technical Report • Grizzly and Black Bear Assessment and Mitigation Report • Forest Health Assessment • Historical Resources Impact Assessment – Alberta • Archaeological Assessment - Jasper National Park • Archaeological Assessment - British Columbia • Palaeontological Overview • Traditional Land and Resource Use Study • Socio-Economic Report • Viewshed Modelling Analysis • Environmental Site Assessment of Pump Stations (Wolf and Chappel) • Noise Impact Assessment of Pump Stations (Wolf and Chappel) The methodology used to conduct the technical studies is presented within the Technical Reports. November 2005 Page 5-3 3739 Terasen Pipelines (Trans Mountain) Inc. Environmental Assessment TMX - Anchor Loop Project Section 5.1 5.1.2.1 Detail of Environmental and Socio-Economic Setting The description of the environmental and socio-economic setting discusses the baseline information at one or more of the spatial scales described in Section 5.1.1, as appropriate. Subject headings correspond to those suggested in the NEB Filing Manual (NEB 2004), as outlined in Table 5.1. Valued Ecosystem Components (VECs) include the most important and known sensitive resources, as outlined in the Scope and Requirements of the Environmental Assessment for the Terasen Pipelines (Trans Mountain) Inc. TMX - Anchor Loop Project (Terms of Reference (TOR)) (CEA Agency et al. 2005). Where possible, information has been presented to coincide with the following jurisdictions: Alberta, Jasper National Park (JNP), Mount Robson Provincial Park (MRPP) and BC. TABLE 5.1 BIOPHYSICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC ELEMENTS Physical Elements Physical environment Air quality Soil and soil productivity Acoustic environment Water quality and quantity Biological Elements Fish and fish habitat Wildlife and wildlife habitat Wetlands Species at risk Vegetation Socio-Economic Elements Human occupancy and resource use Human health Heritage resources Infrastructure and services Traditional land and resource use Employment and economy Social and cultural well-being The scope of the Project and consultation results were used to determine which biophysical and socio- economic elements outlined in Table A-3: Circumstances Triggering the Need for Detailed Biophysical and Socio-Economic Information of the NEB Filing Manual (NEB 2004) required detailed information. The level of detail provided is based upon the scope of the Project and results of consultation. November 2005 Page 5-4 3739 Terasen Pipelines (Trans Mountain) Inc.