Energy board ponders Saint John pipeline after hearings wrap

The decision on whether to run a liquefied natural gas pipeline right through Saint John is now in the hands of the National Energy Board, after 11 days of hearings ended Tuesday.

The NEB, which hasthousands of pages of evidence to consider, is expected to make a decision early in 2007.

Irving Oil and the Spanish-based Repsol are building a $750 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Canaport, near Saint John.

The parent company of Nova Scotia Power, Emera Inc., has applied to build a $350-million, 145-kilometre pipeline to ship the LNG from Canaport through Saint John to the Maine border, to supply gas to the northeastern U.S. states.

During the NEB hearings, more than 40 citizens and several corporations intervened to oppose the application, saying the safety and environmental costs for Saint John would be too extreme. They were particularly concerned that the proposed route takes it through the city's Rockwood Park.

Some interveners calculated that the profits for Repsol are likely to be huge in the hundreds of millions of dollars a year. They argued that some of that money should be used to build the pipeline under the Bay of Fundy rather than through the city.

Leland Thomas, a member of the Friends of Rockwood Park, said Tuesday the hearings were frustrating, partly because they were so narrowly focused on the preferred pipeline route.

"The hearings were good in that we got to ask a lot of questions and find out more about the project, and express our opposition to both the park and the city," Thomas said.

"But the bigger issues I don't think were dealt with."

Thomas had been unsuccessful in his attempts to bring environmental questionsabout the location of an LNGpipeline in the city into the National Energy Board's discussions.

Safety concerns for the city were expressed by Fire Chief Rob Simonds at a council meeting in September. He said a rupture in the proposed pipeline would be unlikely, but, if it happened, it could be catastrophic.

Simonds's report said a high-intensity fire would rapidly burn an area extending 300 metres from the point of a rupture. The report referred to this area as the "hot zone."

Some of the facilities inside the hot zone along the proposed route include the Irving Oil refinery, manufacturing plants that use hazardous materials, an electrical substation that powers the regional hospital and a radio tower that is an important part of the police and fire departments' communications systems.

About a year ago, Saint John council voted against running a pipeline through the city and backed the idea of running it under the Bay of Fundy. But, earlier in November,councillors voted toreverse that decision.

On Monday, an official of the New Brunswick gas distributor Enbridge raised the issue of supplying gas to local markets. He told the NEB panel he is worried that there are no firm agreements with either Repsol or Irving to provide gas for Maritime markets.

"To date, there is no evidence on the record that there will be any supplies available to Maritime Canadian markets, let alone on what terms and conditions," said Andrew Harrington.

"Without this, [Enbridge] believes that granting a certificate for the Emera Brunswick Pipeline would not be in the public interest, as the applicant is unable to substantiate the claimed benefits related to Maritime Canadian markets."

Nova Scotia also intervened at the hearings. It sent Energy Department lawyer Stephen McGrath to "aggressively" defend the province's interest in getting access to the gas, and ensuring that its two LNG projects would not be placed at a competitive disadvantage with the cheaper pipeline.

Anadarko Petroleum has proposed a $750-million LNG terminal near Port Hawkesbury, N.S., and Keltic Petrochemicals of Halifax is proposing a $4-billion combined petrochemical plant and LNG terminal in Guysborough County, N.S.

The Friends of Rockwood Park intervener, Thomas, said, while the NEB hearings were frustrating, Saint John residents should be thankful someone stood up to be counted.

"Those people did an amazing job. They read all that stuff. They asked intelligent questions. I'm really proud that they did stick to it. That's the biggest thing we have now, a group of people who are really willing to fight for what's best for the city."