Turning a blind eye: NEB won't consider NTSB Kalamazoo Rupture findings in deciding on Enbridge Line 9 Reversal Application

The National Energy Board (NEB) has released a decision dismissing a motion by the Ontario Pipeline Landowners Association (OPLA) that requested the re-opening of the evidentiary record of the Enbridge Line 9 Reversal Project hearing process to allow the NEB to consider the report of the NTSB into the Line 6B Rupture in 2010.  Although the NEB was "satsified that the synopsis and full report could contain information that is relevant to the Project", it ruled that:

• it is "mindful that Enbridge and parties, who have fully presented their case, are entitled to a timely decision from the Board";
• the NEB "was fully aware that this NTSB report would be issued.  Still, the Board commenced its proceeding and conducted a public hearing without waiting for this report.";
• although the NEB has yet to release a decision on the Line 9 Reversal, "the Board is satisfied that it has conducted a comprehensive assessment against its own set of regulatory requirements and applicable Canadian standards to determine whether Enbridge has the ability to safely construct and operate the Project.";
• "The Board is of the view that it has all the information it needs to be able to make a final decision on Enbridge's Project."

The NEB's decision begs the question: what harm is there in considering the report of a sister regulator into Enbridge's operational and integrity management systems?  Not only has the NEB declined to postpone its decision on the Line 9 Reversal until it has reviewed the final report of the NTSB, it has declined even to consider the NTSB synopsis that is already available.

Read the decision at: July 20, 2012.

"Enbridge not telling entire story about pipeline, hearing told": Toronto Star

John Spears of the Toronto Star published an article about the Line 9 Reversal Hearing before the National Energy Board in London that concluded yesterday.  Spears refers to the submissions made on behalf of environmental groups and the Ontario Pipeline Landowners Association (OPLA), which represents landowners along the length of the Enbridge crude oil pipeline corridor in Ontario. 

Read the article at: Line 9 Reversal Hearing.

Enbridge Line 9 Hearing Order Here

Click here to view the NEB Hearing Order for the Line 9 Reversal Project: Hearing Order.

NEB to hold oral public hearing for Enbridge Line 9 Reversal Application

The National Energy Board (NEB) announced yesterday that it will convene an oral public hearing to review Enbridge's application to reverse the flow of its Line 9 oil pipeline through southern Ontario.  The pipeline has been flowing westward since 1999.  When initially constructed in 1975, the flow direction was eastward. 

The Draft List of Issues for the hearing includes the need for the project; the engineering design and integrity of the pipeline, including the potential effects of flow reversal; contingency planning for spills, accidents or malfunctions, during construction and operation of the pipeline; the potential environmental and socio-economic effects of the project; the project’s potential impacts on Aboriginal interests; and its potential impacts on affected landowners.

Financial assistance will be made available through the Participant Funding Program to "applicants who meet the criteria and can demonstrate a need to support their timely and meaningful involvement in the proceeding."

Ontario Pipeline Landowners Association calls for Enbridge hearing

Enbridge Pipelines Inc. is proposing a line reversal on its aging Line 9 oil pipeline that runs through southwestern Ontario.  The Ontario Pipeline Landowners Association (OPLA), which represents landowners along the pipeline route (which also includes Lines 7 and 8), has written to the National Energy Board (NEB) to request a full public hearing process.  OPLA cites among its concerns the facts that Line 9 has thinner walls than Lines 7 and 8 and that the oil product Enbridge proposes to put through the line is more corrosive than regular sweet crude. 

Read the OPLA submission at: Letter of Comment.  OPLA is a member of the Canadian Association of Energy and Pipeline Landowner Associations (CAEPLA).

NEB Issues Hearing Order for Enbridge Line 9 Tolls

The National Energy Board has issued its Hearing Order RH-1-2010 for an application by Enbridge for approval of its tolls and tariffs on its No. 9 Line through Ontario. When this application was initially made a few years ago, the NEB raised the issue of "negative salvage value" of the pipeline, questioning whether the future cost of abandonment of the pipeline should be included in the calculation of tolls currently charged to the line's customers (the companies shipping oil through the line) so as to cover off the expected negative value of the line when abandoned (i.e. the cost of remediation, etc. would far outweigh any salvage value for the pipe). At that time, Enbridge simply withdrew its application for final approval of its tolls and avoided the issue.

Now the Line 9 tolls issue is back before the Board. The Ontario Pipeline Landowners Association (OPLA) has already written to the Board to suggest that the negative salvage issue be put back on the table. In its Hearing Order, the NEB says that it will consider this option once it has set its list of intervenors.

Read the Hearing Order at:
https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/ll-eng/livelink.exe?func=ll&objId=593231&objAction=browse