The B.C. government wants Enbridge's pledge to go above and beyond current pipeline safety standards on its Northern Gateway project to be enforceable.
Environment Minister Terry Lake said Thursday the federal government should incorporate all of Enbridge's promises into regulations established during the formal environmental review hearings.
"We want to ensure that the spill risk reduction and the spill response are world class and that goes beyond the mandate of the (National Energy Board) hearings that are going on now," he said. "Enbridge has said that they will exceed the current regulations, we want to ensure it's not just something they're doing voluntarily, but in fact there are regulations in place by the federal government."
Enbridge is hoping to build a new heavy oil pipeline from Alberta's oilsands to Kitimat, but the first major hurdle is getting approval from the federal government's Joint Review Panel. Governments will have a chance to question the company at the final stage of those hearings beginning next month. Lake unveiled his government's priorities Thursday.
"We want to dig down deeper into the environmental protection side, focusing on the three areas we've outlined: reducing the risk of a spill, responding to a spill and then the liability should a spill occur," he said.
The proceedings will take place over four months in Edmonton, Prince George and Prince Rupert. The official dates for each venue have yet to be formally announced, but the Prince George hearings are tentatively slated for Oct. 1 to Nov. 10. It's not yet known at which stop the province will be grilling Enbridge.
Enbridge executive vice-president for western access Janet Holder said the company believes it has already addressed most of the province's concerns in its filing and will be ready with answers to the tough questions from provincial lawyer Christopher Jones at the hearings.
"We have been listening to what the B.C. government has been saying and we understand their concerns and they are concerns we ourselves have had and have been addressing over the last 10 years as we've been maturing this project," she said.
Lake has emphasized the need for "world class" spill prevention and response plans. Holder said Enbridge can deliver on that requirement. She said the company has looked at pipelines in places like Norway and Alaska and has instituted those best practices into the Northern Gateway proposal.
Pipeline opponents have pointed to spills in other Enbridge-owned pipelines in recent years as reasons the company shouldn't be allowed to build the Northern Gateway project through B.C.'s rough terrain, but Holder said this pipeline is different.
"This pipeline is unique relative to other parts of our system or other parts of the industry," she said. "As much as we cannot say that there will never, ever be an incident, we're getting as close as you possibly can to saying that."
She added B.C. taxpayers won't be on the hook if there ever was a spill.
The hearings will directly address three of the five conditions B.C. outlined on July 23 as its minimum requirements to consider approving the projects, but issues surrounding the involvement of First Nations and the financial benefits for the province won't be on the table.
The province has still not scheduled a meeting with Enbridge to talk about those other issues.
"Those are things that may occur in the future but this cross-examination is way of getting at that information through the formal process," Lake said,
Holder understands why the province is waiting before offering to sit down for a face-to-face meeting.
"I don't see a need for us to be talking to the province. They're using a process which is the right way to move forward," she said.
Enbridge has expressed a desire to talk about B.C.'s financial benefits in the past, but the province has been pushing for compromise on the money issues from the federal and Alberta governments. Lake said Thursday that the province isn't limiting itself to striking a new financial deal with other governments.
"There are all kinds of creative ways to come to a solution that ensure British Columbia has an appropriate share of the fiscal benefits," he said.
