Northern Gateway witnesses admitted their communications plans could have been better under questioning Thursday by members of the National Energy Board's Joint Review Panel.
"We made the assumption the public and interested parties would have a good understanding o the process," Northern Gateway environment director Paul Anderson said. "We shouldn't have made that assumption."
Anderson was responding to a question from Joint Review Panel (JRP) member Kenneth Bateman about what the witnesses learned during their time on the stand. Anderson said the company didn't do a good job explaining the checks and balances inherent in the regulatory process and they should have prepared a chart showing all the work that's been done to date and what's planned for the future.
"We had that tool in our hands," Anderson said. "But we kept it as an internal planning tool."
Northern Gateway engineering manager Ray Doering added his thoughts along a similar vein in an interview after the witnesses were excused. Doering said he felt the company should have better explained how it evaluates the risk of spills, something it hopes to do with an update to its semi-quantitative risk assessment.
"[We want to] include tables to help people better understand the data and the complex nature of the data, just to put it into a form that's easier to understand," he said.
Although the National Energy Board process is aimed to give the regulator enough information to make a decision, Doering said it's important not to forget the company still must communicate the information to the public.
"Certainly from the discussions and conversations that we're having in communities along the corridor, whether it's through technical sessions or community advisory board sessions, we're finding there's a general need to better communicate those sorts of risks from potential pipeline failures," Doering said.
The JRP members also quizzed the witnesses on a variety of issues surrounding First Nations and some of those questions seem to trip up the witnesses.
Bateman wanted to know how much of the pipeline route isn't covered by Aboriginal traditional knowledge studies
"The majority is covered, but there are some gaps," consultant Colin Buchanan answered.
The studies are used by the company to find out how local Aboriginal groups use the land in the area of the proposed pipeline and work on ways to mitigate any possible impacts. Bateman pressed Buchanan to give a more detail on how much of the route isn't covered.
"I'm not able to put a percentage on it," Buchanan said.
On the topic of Aboriginal employment, Bateman wanted to know why the company was targeting 15 per cent of employees during construction when it achieved 22 per cent building a portion of the Alberta Clipper pipeline.
"The risk of setting a higher target initially is our lack of understanding of the current capacity and interest of [First Nations] communities along the route," Enbridge senior manager strategic safety and construction management Tom Fiddler replied. "We don't have the came confidence as our experience in Northern Alberta and the prairie provinces."
Fiddler added that it's possible if there aren't enough potential employees available from communities close to the pipeline, the offer would be extended to First Nations people living further afield to apply.
Panel chairwoman Sheila Leggett wanted to know what Northern Gateway was doing to ensure there would be enough trained local residents able to work on the pipeline. Fiddler admitted that a large chunk of the workforce could come outside the right of way area due to the fact contractors like to work with people they're familiar with and some of the jobs could require membership in specific unions.
Panel member Hans Matthews also had questions on the accountability process for making sure Northern Gateway follows through on its commitments. He found out that the executive in charge will be under the auspices of Enbridge Inc., rather than Northern Gateway and asked the company to provide an organizational chart to show reporting responsibilities.
Enbridge is the company behind the Northern Gateway plan, but Northern Gateway will be operated as a separate company.
Prior to the three JRP members asking questions, the NEB's legal counsel Rebecca Brown asked the witnesses questions on topics ranging from the fate of the western toad to the difficulty of consulting with trappers who work away from traditional means of communication.
