Line 9 - to become a tar sands export pipeline after all?

[Oscar]

Is Line 9 destined to become a tar sands export pipeline after all?

[ http://canadians.org/blog/line-9-destin ... -after-all ]

February 10, 2015 - 1:48pm

The Portland Press Herald reports that a pipeline that runs from Portland Maine to Montreal may be targeted for reversal, allowing it to connect to Line 9 which runs from Sarnia to Montreal and thereby export diluted bitumen from the Alberta tar sands by supertanker to overseas ports. [ http://www.pressherald.com/2015/02/06/c ... ading-oil/ ] This possible routing was proposed several years ago but Enbridge stopped talking about the possibility of using Line 9 as an export pipeline in the face of opposition- preferring to market Line 9 as a supply pipeline for Montreal refineries. Now, the owners of the Portland-Montreal pipeline are suing the city of South Portland to quash a local ordinance forbidding the use of their port to export oil. The ordinance was passed last year.

From the article: [ http://www.pressherald.com/2015/02/06/c ... ading-oil/ ]

“In the lawsuit, the company – which is joined in challenging the ordinance by a trade association representing tug, towboat and barge operators – alleges that the ordinance interferes with interstate trade, discriminates against Canadian interests, devalues the pipeline and infringes on areas best left to the federal government.

The article continues.... “Portland Pipe Line had insisted through much of the process that it had no contracts and no plans to reverse the flow of the pipeline. .... But the suit’s filing comes against a backdrop of changes in energy markets that are threatening the viability of the South Portland-Montreal pipeline. Those changes have led to steep declines in the volume of crude oil pumped through the pipeline.

The drop in volume could accelerate this year when a project is completed to reverse an existing Canadian pipeline and pump oil from fields in western Canada to refineries in Ontario and Quebec. That means those refineries would no longer need the oil pumped to Canada from Maine.

Reversing the flow of the South Portland-Montreal pipeline to ship western Canada crude for export through Portland Harbor is the most likely way for the pipeline to remain viable, petroleum industry analyst John Auers told the Press Herald in September.”

Council of Canadians chapters have been campaigning against the reversal of Line 9 for several years.

You can read more here:

NEB approves Line 9, chapters fight back - March 11, 2014 - 6:44am
[ http://canadians.org/blog/neb-approves- ... fight-back ]

Mark Calzavara's blog
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/mark-calzavara ]
Council of Canadians' Ontario-Quebec regional organizer.

[Oscar]

Water issues may be the key to stopping Enbridge's Line 9, say activists

[ http://rabble.ca/news/2015/02/water-iss ... -activists ]

By Steve Cornwell | February 17, 2015

On February 5, Enbridge moved a step closer to reversing and increasing the capacity of its Line 9B pipeline, running from North Westover, Ontario to Montreal, Quebec.

The National Energy Board (NEB) had stalled the Line 9B process in October, citing issues with the proposed placement of shut-off valves and Enbridge's work to identify major water crossings. In a letter sent to energy company at the time, the NEB noted that Enbridge was not complying with industry standards of placing shut-off valves within one kilometre on both sides of identified major water crossings.

Enbridge proposed to build an additional 17 shut-off valves for Line 9B, but the NEB wrote that this amount of valves would only meet industry standards on "6 of the 104 major water crossings" identified by the energy company. The NEB asked that Enbridge demonstrate how the placement of shut-off valves "meet or exceed" industry standards, and "accordingly, are installed on both sides of MWCs [major water crossings] [emphasis in original]."

However, in the decision regarding Enbridge's fillings on Feb. 5, the NEB seems to have changed its tune on safety standards for major water crossings threatened by a spill from Line 9B.

While the NEB noted that effective placement of shut-off valves helps "control and potentially reduce the size of pipeline failures," the Board also argued that valves of this kind pose their own risks, do not prevent pipeline failures and "alone cannot appropriately mitigate the consequences of a failure."

The NEB's position on shut-off valves seems to have changed; however, the amount of valves Enbridge plans to install on Line 9B has not. Enbridge will still place 17 new valves on Line 9B, leaving the vast majority of major water crossings without shut-offs on both sides.

In its February 5 response, the NEB called the 17 valves a "significant improvement" and reflective of an "evolving response in identifying and addressing concerns associated with pipelines."

MORE:

[ http://rabble.ca/news/2015/02/water-iss ... -activists ]

[Oscar]

Enbridge's 'domestic' Line 9 is destined to export oil -- without Indigenous consent

[ http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/jesse/2 ... ng-consent ]

June 12, 2015 | By Jesse McLaren

Mobilizations in Maine have exposed Line 9's goal of export, while the appeal by Chippewas of the Thames First Nation highlights the lack of consultation and violation of their rights. [ . . . ]

[Oscar]

Enbridge and NEB push to open Line 9 ahead of Indigenous legal challenge

[ http://rabble.ca/podcasts/shows/awl/201 ... -challenge ]

June 12, 2015 | By Dan Kellar, | By Rachel Avery

Chippewas of the Thames First Nation are appealing the Line 9 pipeline decision for lack of consultation. We read an article from Rachel Avery and Dan Kellar discussing the federal appeal. [ . . . ]