Northern B.C. is full of caribou, mountain goats and bears and the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline will impact them to varying degrees. Exactly what the oil pipeline will mean for each species has been the focus of extensive questioning this week at National Energy Board hearings at the Ramada.
The grizzly bear was the centre of most of the questioning Wednesday by the Haisla Nation as lawyer Jesse McCormick cross-examined witnesses from Northern Gateway on how the plan to build a pipeline from Alberta's oilsands to Kitimat would impact the habitat, movement and mortality risk for the big bruin.
Although the provincial government deems all seven of the grizzly bear population groups the pipeline will encounter as having a viable population, the species is blue-listed which means the Ministry of the Environment considers it to be of "special concern."
While the risk for some of the animals along the route is a result of things like construction, the possibility of a spill or changes in habitat, for the grizzly it's because people could have easier access for hunting or poaching.
Since the bears may be attracted to some of the vegetation which is expected to grow close to the exposed 25-metre right of way above the pipeline, it could give humans a place to legally or illegally shoot the animal.
Northern Gateway consultant Jeffrey Green described it during testimony as the increased risk of "bear-human conflicts."
The extent of the increased mortality risk wasn't quantified during the hearings and despite repeated questioning from McCormick, the witnesses said any impact increased mortality risks may or may not have on the viability of grizzly groups was a matter for the provincial government to address.
There are two steps Northern Gateway is planning to take to reduce the risk for bears.
First, it plans to replace on a hectare-by-hectare basis any linear features - basically open areas - created by the construction and operation of the pipeline. The density of linear features is a metric used to determine the risk a species faces, for grizzly bears the threshold Northern Gateway is working with is 0.6 km per square km. Five of the seven population areas the pipeline will intersect with are already over that threshold. However, Northern Gateway consultant Colleen Bryden noted that the pipeline right of way is a lower risk to bears than some other linear features, such as logging roads or highways.
Second, the company will make access to humans more difficult by placing barriers such as noncommercial timber, building berms and digging small holes. Company spokesman Ivan Giesbrecht said that would make it more difficult for people on all-terrain vehicles or snowmobiles from accessing the right of way, but wouldn't impact on the company's ability to reach the pipeline in the event of an emergency.
Also, Northern Gateway committed to a request from McCormick that no company personal harass, disturb, harvest or feed grizzlies while on the job.
During the construction phase of the project, there's the additional risk that the noise created by machinery and blasting could scare the bears away. Bryden said this might make certain habitat temporarily unsuitable for bears as they avoid areas where people are working, but overall she said there would be little loss of permanent habitat as a result of the project.
McCormick also spent time asking questions about the eventual decommissioning of the pipeline and how that might impact wildlife, however Northern Gateway hasn't produced detailed plans on that stage of the pipeline's life. Decommissioning of pipelines require a separate set of hearings before the NEB and the company would file more evidence at that time.
Many of the documents in the pipeline application use 50 years as a basis for various projections, such as the risk of spills, however company officials have said during previous testimony that with proper maintenance the pipeline could be operated indefinitely.
The Haisla Nation have anticipated requiring 10 hours to cross-examine the current witness panel and are expected to continue questioning on Thursday.
This set of hearings continue until Friday, when the JRP will hold its first evening session. The JRP returns to Prince George on Nov. 22 for another week to wrap up the Prince George phase of the final hearings.
