Northern Gateway made its latest pitch to convince the provincial government that its land-based spill response will be world-class Wednesday.
The company filed its framework for how its oil spill preparedness plan will be developed at the opening of the morning session of National Energy Board (NEB) hearings at the Ramada.
Northern Gateway president John Carruthers said the company produced the one-page chart which shows exactly when the company plans to develop various phases of its emergency response plans to help interested parties understand how the process works.
Carruthers said when the framework is looked at in conjunction with the general oil spill response plan already filed, it should give everyone confidence the company can meet its promises.
The world-class spill response is one of the five conditions the provincial government imposed on the project before it would consider granting approval and was a key area of examination when the government cross-examined Northern Gateway witnesses in mid-October. The lack of detail in the answers the company gave at that time failed to convince Environment Minister Terry Lake that Northern Gateway had proven it's capable of a world class response.
A spokeswoman for Lake said Wednesday the government is still reviewing the new framework document and weren't prepared to comment on it.
According to the framework, the detailed work will begin in early to mid 2014 and will take about three-and-a-half years to develop. The company expects to have its plans, divided into four categories, ready for submission to regulators about six months prior to the pipeline going into operations early in 2018.
Employee spill response training is slated to begin in early 2016 and be completed by the end of 2017.
Throughout the development of the plans, Northern Gateway has promised to work with regulators, emergency responders, First Nations and members of the public in communities close to the proposed right of way.
The development of the emergency response plans run roughly in parallel to the timing of the detailed design, construction, planning and commissioning of the pipeline itself, because that information is needed to inform how the plans will work in practice.
"The specific plans depend on the detailed engineering that will take place subsequent to the first regulatory decision," Carruthers said, adding it will take time to incorporate any conditions placed on the pipeline by the NEB as well as anything that comes out of consultations.
As part of the framework, Northern Gateway has committed to have an independent third party come in and assess its plan beginning in 2015. It's expected the third party review will completed a few months prior to operations.
"[The third party evaluation] is an important element to benchmark progress towards the world class capabilities we want to achieve and we will achieve," Enbridge senior manager of environmental operations Milne said during testimony. "It will give some assurance to some of the stakeholders."
Under questioning from Haisla Nation lawyer Jennifer Griffith, Milne said the review would be of a technical nature and look at how Northern Gateway was meeting regulations as well as promises made by the company during the environmental assessment.
Griffith also asked if the company would make the terms of reference of the third party evaluation public, as a condition of approval by the Joint Review Panel.
"Northern Gateway is not opposed to such a condition," Milne said. "It's something we'd look to the review panel to see if it's appropriate."
Carruthers said the company is open to the idea of working with local groups, including First Nations, to select a third-party evaluator that is acceptable to all parties.
"We're looking for a qualified expert, who exactly it is we're indifferent about," he said.
