Monday, June 3, 2024

Pipeline to Prosperity

Coastal GasLink, the first new pipeline to the west coast in more than 70 years, has been a boon for CLAC members, Indigenous communities, and the BC economy

By Cathy Miehm

BRITISH COLUMBIA’S MASSIVE COASTAL GASLINK Pipeline Project passed a major milestone late last year when the final piece of pipeline was installed. The project has been a boon for thousands of members working for several CLAC-signatory companies since construction began in 2018.

The pipeline will carry 2.1-billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from near Dawson Creek in the province’s northeast to a new LNG Canada processing facility in Kitimat on the BC coast. There it will be liquefied and shipped to Asia, opening up a lucrative new market for Canadian producers.

TC Energy, the company overseeing the pipeline project, said the final weld on the pipeline was completed on October 7, 2023, at the base of Cable Crane Hill near Kitimat.

“That means that all 670 kilometres of pipe has been welded, coated, lowered into the trench, rigorously tested, and backfilled,” the company said in a release last October. Mechanical completion of the pipeline, which included final documentation, engineering analysis, and testing was finished in late November—a month ahead of schedule.

COASTAL GASLINK IS THE FIRST new pipeline to the west coast in more than 70 years and took years of planning and collaboration to become a reality.

In 2012, LNG Canada chose TC Energy to design, build, own, and operate CGL. Engagement with Indigenous groups, landowners, affected communities, and other stake-holders started immediately, followed by environmental and engineering studies along the proposed route.

CGL signed agreements with all 20 elected Indigenous groups whose traditional territories overlap the route. The final path was designed to minimize environmental risk and incorporated concerns about safety, archaeological and cultural values, and land-use compatibility.

The project was divided into eight sections, allowing work to be done at various locations at the same time. Reclamation activities followed right behind to restore temporary changes such as access roads and work-camp sites.

A partnership between Ledcor and the Haisla Nation—Ledcor Haisla Limited Partnership (LHLP)—completed the pipeline construction for the CGL – Spread 8 West section. This included the very difficult installation of approximately 55 kilometres of 48-inch-diameter pipeline over a mountain pass and into the LNG facility in Kitimat.

Ledcor called this “one of the most technically challenging areas of the CGL.” There were many steep slope sections that required special installation procedures. Areas with slopes above 45 degrees required the use of cable cranes for pipeline construction.

Harsh weather conditions were a big challenge, necessitating detailed planning. Ledcor worked in partnership with Edmonton-based SICIM Canada, which has expertise in steep slope and mountainous pipeline construction.

ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT HAD a keen interest in the environmental footprint of the project as it means an increase in the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) produced by British Columbia and by Canada as a whole. Critics of the LNG industry point toward Canada’s commitment to the Paris Agreement, which calls for the country to reduce its GHG emissions by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The LNG Canada project is expected to add considerably to national GHG output.

But proponents are buoyed by the fact that LNG from BC will be used to displace coal-fired electrical generating plants in China and other Asian countries. LNG from the Kitimat project will displace anywhere from 20 to 40 coal-fired plants in Asia and reduce global GHG emissions by 60 to 90 million tonnes annually. One study estimates that for every unit of GHG that British Columbia produces to get LNG to market, the Asian production of GHGs is reduced by a factor of 10.

The project has created more than 25,000 jobs and generated $3.2 billion for British Columbia’s GDP. It has also resulted in $331 million in tax revenue and almost $4 billion in revenues for area businesses and suppliers, according to TC Energy. In 2019, BC estimated it would receive around $23 billion in government revenues over the 40-year lifespan of the pipeline and export facility.

LNG CANADA IS POISED TO finish construction of the Kitimat export facility this year.

“We are 90 percent complete, bringing Canada’s first LNG export facility to life,” Teresa Waddington told the annual BC Natural Resources Forum, held in January in Prince George.

Waddington, LNG Canada’s vice president of corporate relations, said the liquid natural gas sector is building BC’s economy, supporting First Nations, and contributing to global climate solutions. The plant and pipeline will “open a gateway” to a new era of economic prosperity in northern BC, with First Nations sharing the resource benefits.

Last year, the BC government approved the new Cedar LNG project, which is a partnership between the Haisla Nation and Pembina Pipeline Corporation. The floating liquefaction and export terminal will be built on the Douglas Channel, a few kilometres from LNG Canada in Kitimat, and it will be Canada’s first Indigenous majority-owned LNG facility.

“It’s trailblazing,” Crystal Smith, chair of the First Nations LNG Alliance, told the natural resources forum. “We are setting a path of how economic projects such as Cedar can be accomplished, proving to the world that Indigenous communities want to be a part of the solution. We want to be a part of what’s happening globally while maintaining our values and our cultural beliefs.”

Sources: context.capp.ca, ledcor.com, princegeorgecitizen.com, tcenergy.com, thenarwhal.ca

Liquefied Natural Gas Fast Facts

What is it?

• LNG is a natural gas (mostly methane plus some ethane).

• It is clear, colourless, odourless, noncorrosive, and nontoxic.

How is it produced?

• Natural gas is cooled to -162°C, which causes it to condense into a liquid.

• LNG takes up only 1/600th the volume of natural gas, which makes it easier, safer, and far more economical to transport.

How is it transported?

• Processed natural gas is piped to terminals where it is liquefied.

• LNG is transported on massive, specially equipped freighters and then shipped overseas where it is reheated and converted back into a gaseous state and then piped to where it is needed.

Kitimaat and Kitimat

Kitimaat is the Haisla Nation’s traditional territory, which includes the area in and around Kitimat, where they have lived and thrived for almost 10,000 years. The name comes from the Tsimshian term for the inhabitants of the area, Kitimaat (“people of the snow”). Today, Kitimaat Village, at the head of the Douglas Channel, is the home community for approximately 700 Haisla residents.

The lands and waters of Kitimaat have sustained the residents for millennia and are an intrinsic part of the Haisla past, present, and future culture. The community has a long history of welcoming economic opportunities that respect the resources they cherish.

Kitimat is still very young, the town having been born in the early 1950s to support the Aluminum Company of Canada’s (Alcan) giant new aluminum smelting plant. The Nechako River’s rapids provided the enormous power that smelting aluminum requires. The $500-million deal with the BC government was made without any meaningful consultation with local First Nations.

Alcan built a dam, a 16-kilometre tunnel, a powerhouse, an 82-kilometre transmission line, and a deep-sea terminal and smelter. The company also designed, laid out, and helped with the initial construction of the community, which was marketed as “The Town of Tomorrow.”

There were visions of a bustling city of 50,000 people, but the population peaked at around 13,000 in the early 1980s. Alcan was purchased by Rio Tinto in 2007. The smelter is still running and employs about 1,100 people.

Today, about 8,500 people call Kitimat home, but the town has more than 1,300 “shadow residents.” These are temporary workers who come in for big projects, like CGL and the LNG plant.

Sources: bcanuntoldhistory.knowledge.ca, globalnews.ca, haisla.ca

Pipeline to Prosperity

Liquefied Natural Gas Fast Facts

Kitimaat and Kitimat

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