The citizen committee taking an in-depth look at the proposed Woodfibre LNG project is a lively discussion group – and many questions that still haven’t been answered.
Squamish council took its show on the road Tuesday (Sept. 16) to hear the first report from the Staff Woodfibre LNG Advisory Committee. A crowd of about 45, including several members of the committee, attended the meeting at the Squamish Seniors Centre.
“That’s a bit of a change,” said mayor Rob Kirkham. “We wanted to be sure there was plenty of room for people who come out.”
The interim report from the committee, which has been meeting since June, will be the first of several, said Kirkham.
District of Squamish director of engineering Rod McLeod and Randy Stoyko, general manager of business and community services, presented the technical reports, while Catherine Rockandel, the facilitator for the Staff Advisory Committee, spoke to the committee’s deliberations.
McLeod took council through the EA process, noting he was using several slides from Tracy Saxby of My Sea to Sky, a group opposing the proposal, since they did a good job of simplifying the process.
Decision expected next spring
The controversial project is still at the same stage as it was in July, McLeod noted, with the formal applications by Woodfibre LNG and Fortis, which needs to expand its pipeline to service the project, to the BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) expected this fall. Once they submit their applications there will be a 180-day application review, including a public comment period of 45 to 60 days and an open house hosted by the EAO.
McLeod noted that if the public comment period falls over the Christmas holidays then the comment period would either be extended or scheduled to ensure the holidays do not reduce the time for commentary.
“If all falls into place they hope for a minister’s decision…in the spring/summer of 2015,” McLeod said, noting that the decision will need approvals from both provincial and federal ministers.
The outcome could be either a straight rejection, a rejection requiring more information or approval, likely with a long list of conditions, said McLeod.
“Those are the things we’ll all be interested to see.”
If approved, permits will come from the BC Oil and Gas Commission along with Transport Canada, BC Safety Authority, Vancouver Coastal Health and more than 20 other regulatory authorities
The District of Squamish will also have more than 20 permits to issue for both the compressor and processor sites for Woodfibre LNG and Fortis, but McLeod noted that council does not have discretionary authority to reject the project with those permits.
“We do not have any authority to say no to something like a building permit if they meet the conditions,” McLeod said. “We do not regulate what is in the building.
Coun. Patricia Heintzman asked if any of the conditions of use in the site’s zoning, which include emission of odours or toxic and noxious materials past the lot line, would apply to the project. McLeod said staff had examined those rules and determined they would not apply.
Heintzman also asked about the difference between the provincial and federal environmental assessment processes, which are being combined for the Woodfibre LNG project at the provincial level. Heintzman noted the federal process deals with cumulative effects of a project more than the provincial one and asked how those effects will be dealt with on the Woodfibre project.
McLeod said the committee had discussed that issue. “The provincial EAO process is very aware of that but we don’t have a definitive answer yet.”
Technical presentations
Stoyko summarized the myriad of technical presentations the committee has seen since forming in June, including presentations from Transport Canada, the BC Oil and Gas Commission, the Pacific Pilotage Authority and marine safety consultants.
Marine safety consultant Howard Candelet told the committee that there has never been a major shipping incident involving the loss of LNG. The industry uses special tugs with pilots trained on simulators for each specific operation, and the tankers would also have local pilots on board. The loading operations have redundant automatic safety shutdown control systems which work within two seconds in case of a problem. Independent inspections of all LNG ships are conducted at least annually.
“You can go on to their site and see how any vessel is inspected,” said Stoyko. “It is a very transparent methodology.”
Candelet also told the committee studies commissioned by the U.S. government about how LNG behaves when it is spilled on water or if it can explode in a vapour cloud. LNG spilled on open water will freeze onto the surface of the water, while it is not possible for natural gas to explode in an unconfined space.
In the case of an explosion in a confined space, the committee heard, the size of a fireball would be limited by the amount of gas involved but the maximum dispersion is generally four times the diameter of the flame – in other words, a 100-foot flame diameter would result in a 400-foot-high fireball, Stoyko said.
The committee heard that Woodfibre LNG will also complete a voluntary program called TERMPOL (Transport Canada Technical Review Process of Marine Terminal Systems and Transshipment Sites) run by Transport Canada, which will develop safety procedures and emergency response plans.
On the subject of exclusion zones surrounding LNG tankers, the committee heard from Transport Canada that exclusion zones are used only in very narrow channels or harbours, and only cover 50 metres on either side of a vessel and 500 metres in front of it. Howe Sound and Georgia Strait are considered open areas and woul be subject to speed limits but not exclusion zones, Stoyko said.
The current Canada Shipping Act, which governs the behaviour of vessels in Canadian waters, was last updated in 2001 and does not provisions for LNG at this time. Transport Canada has a panel looking at the risk of hazardous and noxious substances and emergency preparedness and response plans for dealing with LNG, with a report expected this fall, Stoyko said.
Heintzman asked if the Coast Guard has any plans for escorting LNG tankers, as apparently happens in the U.S. Stoyko said Transport Canada did not address that with the committee but noted that all foreign vessels in Canadian waters would be inspected by Transport Canada.
“The shipping act is really old,” said Heintzman. “It’s action–reaction and as we get hundreds more tankers in the Strait we’ll get exclusion zones should all these tanker movements escalate.”
Rockandel said the committee asked about that but Transport Canada said in the future they would not respond to increased traffic with exlusion zones because of the implications of monitoring them.
Record level of comments to EAO
The BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) told the committee it received more than 900 pages of public comments in relation to the Woodfibre LNG proposal.
“I think the comment was this was the most, or up there among the most, of any project,” said Stoyko, noting that both the EAO and the proponent must consider every comment, and the EAO reviews the proponent’s responses to public comments as part of its assessment.
“The comments are being listened to for sure.”
Stoyko also noted that any difference in findings between the EAO’s working group and any outside experts, including those working on behalf of the public, would “definitely raise a red flag” and might trigger a third-party review.
Committee won’t come to consensus: Rockandel
Rockandel, who has facilitated the working committee through nine meetings since June, said the group is very representative of Squamish’s diversity.
“It’s not a group that is going to form any type of consensus,” she told council. “These are people who have very different values and perspectives on a project like this or any kind of resource development. It makes for very lively discussions in our meetings.”
The committee has drawn some interim conclusions from its work so far. It is pleased that Woodfibre LNG is looking at using electricity rather than gas to power its operation, it concludes that LNG carriers have the highest safety and design regulations in the world are considered safe, and it accepts that exclusion zones are not necessary for LNG tankers in Howe Sound based on technical presentations from Transport Canada and the Pacific Pilotage Authority.
However, the committee continues to be concerned about inadequate detail on noise and light pollution, flaring and the effects of dispersal of warm water into Howe Sound on marine life from the technical presentations it has seen thus far.
It is calling on the district to review these areas and ask for more information.
The committee is also concerned about siting guidelines for the LNG facility and worker training, specifically the gap in workers’ knowledge of equipment built offshore but installed and operated in B.C.
Another concern was about the BC Oil and Gas Commission’s ability as a regulator to handle LNG projects.
“The delivery of the technical presentation left something to be desired,” said Rockandel. “It caused a concern among the committee of the capacity of the regulator to effectively monitor and regulate compliance…it caused some concern among the committee.”
After council questions, at the urging of Heintzman, council opened the floor to public questions. Residents asked the committee about benchmarking marine life in Howe Sound, the macroeconomics of using electric power for LNG exports, concerns about the proponent’s parent company and the potential of conversion of the Woodfibre plant to oil should the business model not work for LNG.
Rockandel said that issue had been raised by the committee on a number of changes. “The committee has not heard any response that leaves them satisfied and continues to probe.”
McLeod pointed out that the proposed expansion of Fortis’s pipeline from 10 inches to 24 inches, which has fuelled some of the speculation about oil, is within the Squamish area and conversion to a full 24-inch pipeline would require a significant expansion of the existing pipeline through the Coquitlam watershed.
Resident Ashley MacDonald highlighted the fact that 40 people had taken time out of their day on a Tuesday afternoon to attend the meeting. “Imagine how many more people would have been here if this was in the evening.”
Kirkham noted that the next time the committee made a presentation council would ensure it was an evening meeting to allow more people to attend.
“It’s absolutely a critical major concern to all of us as to what the benefits, concerns and risks will be,” he said.
More info
The committee also asked council to explore setting up online tools such as forums, surveys and polls to better engage the community on major issues such as LNG and other development projects in the future.
“They felt that certainly while all of the minutes and all of the technical presenations are contained on the DOS website, it requires about seven clickthroughs to actually find it, so it’s not as transparent as it could be,” said Rockandel. “There could be some ways for people to engage the community.”
District communications director Christina Moore pointed out that all documents related to Woodfibre LNG are easily accessed from www.squamish.ca/lng.
Apology for tech problems with meeting
Technical issues with new portable streaming equipment made it difficult for those live-streaming the event to hear the proceedings. The District of Squamish apologized on its website, noting it was the first meeting ever to be live-streamed outside council chambers, where the district has invested heavily in audio and video technology.
