It could take generations for some areas along the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline route to be restored to its natural state.
Under current routing, the pipeline could intersect with old growth forests in 11 locations and company officials said during National Energy Board hearings on Thursday that it might take 80 years or more for the construction and operation impacts on some plant life to be fully reversed.
"We're not going to wake up one day and the landscape is going to be restored," Northern Gateway environment director Paul Anderson said during testimony to the Joint Review Panel (JRP) at the Ramada.
The JRP is evaluating the environmental assessment for the $6.5 billion plan to connect Alberta's oilsands with Kitimat. The panel will provide a recommendation to the federal cabinet by the end of 2013.
In order to build the 1,172 km pipeline, Northern Gateway will clear a 50-metre wide right of way during the construction phase. Once the project is complete, half of that will be allowed to return to its natural state, but the other half will kept free of large trees and shrubs to allow access to the underground pipe.
Despite the length of time required to restore the forests, the company lists the impact on old growth areas as "not significant" in its application to the NEB. Jennifer Griffith, a lawyer representing the Haisla Nation, challenged Northern Gateway witnesses on that classification during cross-examination Thursday.
Acknowledging that the effects of clearing the old growth forwards were reversible over time, she wondered why the effects still weren't listed as significant due to the fact the company said the effects would have a high magnitude and last a long time.
The company defines a "long-term effect" as something that will last at least two years after decommissioning of the pipeline. Just when that decommissioning would occur is unknown, although the company estimates a 50-year life for the project, it has said the pipeline will be built and maintained so that it can be operated for an even longer period of time.
Northern Gateway consultant Jeffrey Green said Griffith was focusing too much on the term "not significant" which appeared in a table in the company's application. He suggested more of an emphasis should be put on the words around the table, which described the company's rationale.
Northern Gateway engineering manager Ray Doering said that since restoration will take such a long time in old-growth forests, the company will try to "reduce its footprint" in those areas by narrowing the right of way needed for construction. He said the company can also use "micro re-routing" to shift the pipeline away from some old growth stands, while staying inside the one kilometre-wide corridor for which it's seeking approval.
"We'd have to look at this more closely when we get closer to the construction phase," Doering said.
Consultant David Reid said the company will also need to update its mapping of the proposed route and consult with logging companies to see if any of the older forests along the route have already been removed by industry or have been killed by things like the mountain pine beetle.
Given the length of time it would take some of the forested areas to recover, Griffith asked if three generations of humans could be impacted by the clearing of some of the trees.
"The timeline that we proposed is on the record and I don't think we proposed to hurt any humans," Anderson replied.
The Haisla spent the better part of two days questioning the third and final Northern Gateway witness panel to sit in Prince George. In addition to questions about vegetation, Griffith spent a lot of time asking about stream and river crossings and how that could impact fish stocks.
She wrapped up her questioning on culturally modified trees, which she described as "living monuments" for Aboriginals. In B.C. it's illegal to cut down any modified trees created prior to 1846.
The Office of the Wet'suwet'en wrapped up the day with questions about how some of the documents in the environmental assessment was prepared and expressed concern that not enough information was provided for them to make a determination
Questioning from other interveners, likely to include the Fort St. James Sustainability Group, will continue on Friday with a morning, afternoon and evening session.
The hearings will then take a break and return to Prince George on Nov. 22 when the tables will turn and Northern Gateway will get to ask questions of selected interveners.
