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Roberts Bank eyed for pipeline

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley suggests Delta as alternative terminus for contentious Kinder Morgan proposal

Delta might be a better option for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Alberta's new premier, Rachel Notley, dropped that bombshell Wednesday at a conference in New York, offering a suggestion that surely won't go over well

with many in South Delta that are already lobbying against proposed container terminal expansion at Roberts Bank.

The first-term New Democrat premier already indicated support for Kinder Morgan's highly contentious $5.4-billion oil pipeline twinning plan, which has drawn heated opposition from such cities as Burnaby and Vancouver as well

as environmental groups.

If approved by the National Energy Board, Kinder Morgan would nearly triple the capacity of its Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to an existing facility in Burnaby, a plan that has opponents warning about oil spills and increased tanker

traffic. This week the Alberta premier said the project might have to go to a different port, saying the pipeline has support of the vast majority of communities through which it runs.

Although Kinder Morgan

is still sticking to its proposed Burnaby route, Notley

suggested it might be time to get creative and re-route the pipeline further south, noting South Delta is one possibility.

Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington was quick to respond, saying it's unfortunate the Alberta premier would make such an illconsidered statement.

"Delta's foreshore is a completely inappropriate location for the Kinder Morgan terminus, and would put the most valuable ecological habitat in Canada at risk. The Fraser River delta is an internationally significant area for millions of salmon and shorebirds, and I am firmly opposed to any such suggestion," Huntington said. "Kinder Morgan's own documents state that Delta and other terminus alternatives 'would result in significantly

greater cost, larger footprint and additional environmental effects.' I hope the premier's future statements will reconsider Delta and the Fraser River estuary as non-negotiable with respect to Kinder Morgan's proposal, as well as any future oil export proposal."

Against Port Expansion's Roger Emsley also said the environmentally sensitive area is simply the wrong location.

Noting the 2012 accident

when a large bulk carrier docking at Westshore Terminals destroyed a coal conveyor system, spilling a large amount of coal into Georgia Strait, Emsley said it appears something might be going on behind the scenes for the Alberta premier to bring up the idea. "Let's assume for a moment that the port (of Metro Vancouver) builds the pod, then the man-made island, and once they've got that they'd say, 'Well, OK, we're going to make it an oil terminal, perhaps with some storage out there too.'"

Although there's been no indication from Port Metro Vancouver that Roberts Bank is being considered for an oil export facility, the Corporation of Delta started raising red flags about that possibility a couple of years ago.

CAO George Harvie and Mayor Lois Jackson went on fact finding trip to Norway to visit liquid bulk products handling and shipping facilities as part of a delegation that included port officials, petroleum companies and others. They joined the tour due to concern about development of a bulk liquid handling facility at Roberts Bank.

During a National Energy Board public comment period on the Kinder Morgan proposal, a group calling itself Concerned Professional Engineers filed its opinion that Roberts Bank is better suited as a shipping point for Alberta diluted bitumen.

Kinder Morgan recently released a consultant's report that went over the benefits of an expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, including eliminating the need to ship oil by rail in Western Canada.