Written by GORDON HOEKSTRA
Citizen staff
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Tuesday, 25 November 2008 |
Enbridge Inc. has opened two offices in northwest B.C., and expects to open another in Burns Lake in 2009, in an effort to help provide information and get input on its proposed $4.5-billion pipeline project.
"A big part of this project is establishing a credibility in communities," Enbridge official Roger Harris said this week. "You do that by establishing a local presence that allow ways for people, not just in the community but in the region, to actually get access to you, to talk about the project, whether they like or they don't," said Harris, vice-president of communications and aboriginal partnerships.
There are no plans to locate an office in Prince George, where the company held an open house on the project last week. Harris said, however, he expects that Prince George will be a service centre for the proposed project.
"I don't think anyone can doubt that, but it sort of sits on the outside in terms of proximity. There are some other communities that are closer that I'd like to create that physical presence," said Harris.
The two offices in northwest B.C. are in Kitimat and Terrace, the community Harris, a former Liberal MLA, lives in.
Harris said in addition to the communication role the offices will play, they will also be a contact point for helping shape the pipeline project. The idea is to ensure that the local businesses "actually" get a piece of the project, he said.
More importantly, the idea is to support the creation of entirely new businesses in the community which could continue to supply services to the pipeline after it is constructed, said Harris.
While there will be thousands of jobs created during the 30-month construction period, few permanent jobs will be created, perhaps 50 in Kitimat and a handful of workers along the route in a few communities.
The 1,170-kilometre pipeline is proposed to carry oil from the Alberta oil sands to Kitimat where it will be exported to regions like Asia and California.
The proposed pipeline runs just to the north of Prince George at Bear Lake, just south of Fort St. James, and passes near Burns Lake and Houston before continuing on to Kitimat.
A twin pipeline will carry condensate, an oil thinner, back to the Alberta. The thrust behind the project is to create an offshore export outlet for Alberta oilsands which normally flow south to the interior of the U.S.
The project was shelved in late 2006, but was put back on the front burner earlier this year when Enbridge secured $100 million from Western oil producers and key Asian refiners to get the project through a joint regulatory process with the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.
The Calgary-based company hopes to file its regulatory application in mid-2009. If all goes well, construction could start in 2010 or 2011.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 25 November 2008 )
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