Energy East pipeline poses threat to waterways: new report

TransCanada’s proposed 4500 km Energy East pipeline poses too much risk to waterways to be approved, the Council of Canadians says.

The CAN$ 12 billion pipeline would carry 1.1 million bpd of crude oil from terminals at Hardisty, Alta. and Moosomin, Sask. to refineries in Montreal, the Quebec City region and Saint John, N.B.

Crude not used in Eastern Canada would be exported to international markets from marine terminals built in Quebec and New Brunswick.

The council said the pipeline would significantly increase tanker traffic in the already busy Bay of Fundy, thereby increasing the risk of spills and marine noise.

“We believe the proposal should be rejected,” said Andrea Harden-Donahue, a contributing author to a recent Council report on the pipeline titled ‘Energy East: Where Oil Meets Water’.

“From what we’ve been hearing from people, water ranks very high, if not at the top of the list of concerns regarding the risks of this particular pipeline.”

The report says the pipeline would cross at least 90 watersheds and 961 waterways, many of them on First Nations land.

“The potential damage from a major Energy East spill is massive,” it says. “What little we know of (diluted bitumen) spills is enough to show that we can — and must — say no to this pipeline to protect the waterways along its path.”

The report also encourages municipal and provincial governments along the route to commission independent scientific analysis to evaluate the threat of a spill.

Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner

Sources: Edmonton Journal, CBC News

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/27082014/energy-east-pipeline-poses-threat-to-waterways-new-report/