National Energy Board doing poor job of enforcing pipeline safety

Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion: lowering pipes into trench.

by APTN National News, January 26, 2016
OTTAWA – There’s fresh fuel for the raging national pipeline debate as a new audit has found the National Energy Board is failing to track pipeline approval conditions or follow up on compliance problems.

The annual report from federal environment commissioner Julie Gelfand says the Calgary-based board isn’t adequately checking to ensure the safe operation of some 73,000 kilometres of existing oil and gas pipelines operated by about 100 companies.

Tsleil-Waututh Nation take NEB to court to stop Kinder Morgan hearing

Tsleil-Waututh Nation spokesperson Rueben George at Vancouver press conference on Tuesday about a legal challenge to NEB’s Kinder Morgan pipeline hearing. Photo by Mychaylo Prystupa, National Observer.

By Mychaylo Prystupa, National Observer, October 27th 2015

Under the banner, “Protect the Salish Sea,” a North Vancouver Indigenous community announced the start of its lawsuit against the National Energy Board (NEB) in federal court on Tuesday.

The lawsuit attempts to stop the widely-criticized hearing process for the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Tsleil-Waututh Nation says the outgoing Harper government failed in its constitutional legal duty to adequately consult with their community when it began the NEB review of Kinder Morgan’s proposed $5.4-billion Edmonton-to-Burnaby pipeline expansion more than a year ago. The band is now seeking a court order to stop the hearing.

Kinder Morgan pipeline hearings delay hard on beleaguered industry, expert says

NEB postponed approval process after a consultant who gave evidence in favour got hired by regulator

CBC News, Aug 25, 2015

An energy expert says the National Energy Boards’ decision to delay hearings about Kinder Morgan’s proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is adding uncertainty to an already fragile industry.

The NEB postponed hearings this week because a consultant who prepared evidence in favour of the project will soon start working for the national energy regulator.

Clyde River loses fight to block seismic testing

Aerial view of Clyde River, Nunavut.

Federal Court of Appeal denies hamlet’s request for a judicial review of permit

CBC News, Aug 18, 2015

Clyde River, Nunavut, has lost its bid to block seismic testing off its shores.

The Federal Court of Appeal has denied the Baffin Island hamlet’s request for a judicial review of a testing permit issued by the National Energy Board.

In her written decision, Justice Eleanor Dawson says the board fulfilled requirements to consult with local Inuit and that consultation doesn’t necessarily mean agreement.

She noted that efforts to ensure the tests don’t unduly harm wildlife will be ongoing.

Burnaby wins ruling against Kinder Morgan

Kinder Morgan Westridge Marine Terminal gate – photo by Mychaylo Prystupa, Vancouver Observer.

City of Burnaby wins key ruling with National Energy Board against Kinder Morgan and its proposed $5.4 billion oil sands pipeline.

Mychaylo Prystupa, Vancouver Observer, Sept 25th, 2014

In what’s considered a huge win for the City of Burnaby’s legal battle to stop the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, the National Energy Board struck down the company’s application to forbid Burnaby city staff from blocking the pipeline company’s test drilling on Burnaby Mountain.

“Kinder Morgan is this arrogant company who assumed they could just go in and take direct action [to remove trees], based on their legal interpretation,” said Burnaby’s lawyer, Gregory McDade, Q.C. Thursday evening.

“They thumbed their nose at the law.”

“It turns out they were wrong,” added the lawyer.

Kinder Morgan skirting pipeline questions: B.C., Vancouver

Oil tanker passing through Burrard Inlet from Chevron refinery in Burnaby BC, end point for Kinder Morgan’s TransMountain pipeline, which the corporation is seeking to expand.

Trans Mountain says it responded to interveners’ questions within the scope of the regulatory review

CBC News/The Canadian Press,  July 5, 2014

A chorus of critics that includes the province of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver claim that Kinder Morgan has failed to answer many of the questions put to the company through the regulatory review process for its proposed Trans Mountain pipeline.

The City of Vancouver submitted 394 written questions as part of the National Energy Board’s regulatory review process, covering everything from emergency management plans to compensation in the event of an oil spill, but said the Texas-based company did not respond to 40 per cent of them.

Kinder Morgan’s $136 million pipeline ‘war chest’ to be paid by Canadians

Oil tanker prepares to fill up with Alberta Tar Sands oil at Burrard Inlet refinery.

“The decision to enable this unfair advantage is unprecedented. The approach has been rejected out of hand by US regulators,” said economist Robyn Allan.

Jenny Uechi, Vancouver Observer,July 1, 2014
In what an economist calls an “unprecedented” decision, the National Energy Board has allowed Kinder Morgan to build up a $136 million ‘war chest’ to fund its Trans Mountain pipeline expansion application through shipping surcharges. The charge, called a “firm service fee”,  allows Texas-based pipeline company Kinder Morgan to offload the cost of the pipeline application to Canadians.
“The decision to enable this unfair advantage is unprecedented. The approach has been rejected out of hand by US regulators,” said Robyn Allan, an independent economist and former CEO of ICBC, who outlined the finding in her report. 

Enbridge Line 9 pipeline reversal approved by energy board

Protest against Enbridge Line 9 reversal near Hamilton, Dec 2013.

Thursday’s decision comes after several months of public hearings

The Canadian Press, Mar 06, 2014

The National Energy Board has approved energy giant Enbridge’s plan to reverse the flow and increase the capacity of a pipeline that has been running between southern Ontario and Montreal for years.

Kinder Morgan slammed for ‘accidentally’ omitting oil pipeline maps in federal application

Parliament asked to require Texas company to “re-start” its application after it neglected to upload oil pipeline maps to NEB website for people to see

Mychaylo Prystupa, Vancouver Observer, Feb 25th, 2014

Kinder Morgan was harshly criticized in the House of Commons Tuesday for not filing a complete application with maps for its Edmonton-to-Burnaby oil pipeline — a project that may disturb dozens of homes through several B.C. cities, depending on the path.

Pipeline rupture report raises questions about TransCanada inspections

Aftermath of the explosion from a TransCanada pipeline rupture in 2009.

2011 report criticized TransCanada’s ‘inadequate’ inspections

By Amber Hildebrandt, CBC News, Feb 04, 2014

A CBC News investigation has unearthed a critical report that the federal regulator effectively buried for several years about a rupture on a trouble-prone TransCanada natural gas pipeline.