Sunrise to Sunrise

 

I WALK ONTO THE FROZEN windswept plain, take a deep breath, and the inside of my nose freezes. The snow squeaks beneath my boots—a sound unique to fine powdered snow when it’s very cold and very dry.

I’m at the Veresen Midstream Sunrise Sweet Gas Plant project being constructed by Encana’s Cutbank Ridge Partnership on behalf of the Veresen Midstream Limited Partnership just outside of Dawson Creek, BC. It’s March 2, -28°C, and overcast. Local 68 members employed by Ledcor Industrial Limited are building the plant, working almost around the clock through the cold days and even colder nights. Construction here rarely stops.

I arrive just as the day shift filters into the lunchroom, one of several lunch trailers on the site. With 550 Local 68 members on site, one lunch trailer isn’t enough.

The atmosphere is jovial as members thaw their fingers and joke around while sitting at the long tables. Many only recently arrived on site, while some have been here for almost a year. They come from across the country. Most used to work in Alberta’s oilsands, where construction work has largely dried up due to the drop in oil prices.

But here in northern BC, work is starting to pick up. And despite the cold, these CLAC members are more than ready for the opportunity to work—day or night.

THE VERESEN MIDSTREAM SUNRISE SWEET gas plant is one of three being constructed by Veresen Midstream Limited Partnership near Dawson Creek, which is situated in the middle of the Montney Formation, one of the largest shale gas resources in the world. Throughout this 130,000-square-kilometre basin, new projects are in various stages of construction and planning.

The region holds approximately 449 trillion cubic feet of natural gas—almost half of Canada’s total natural gas resources—and everyone wants to get a piece of the action now. There’s enough gas to rival the large shale gas developments in the US. The area is also rich in oil, butane, propane, and condensate, which is used to dilute heavy bitumen in Alberta’s oilsands.

With all this potential, it’s no wonder companies are still drilling in spite of flat markets. Which is good news for Canada’s construction companies and construction workers—including CLAC members.

The new Sunrise plant alone will cost $860 million to construct. Add to that the cost of the other two plants that Veresen Midstream Limited Partnership is working on, and the total investment comes to $2.4 billion. Once complete, the Sunrise plant will process 400 million cubic feet of gas per day, making it the largest plant constructed in western Canada in 30 years.

Ledcor Industrial Limited was awarded the work for the bulk of the construction on the Sunrise plant. At its peak, 600 Local 68 members will work on the site, while nearly 1,000 Local 63 members were employed in the modular yard in Edmonton, where many of the components were built and then assembled on-site.

IN THE LUNCHROOM, I CHAT with workers from different trades, including scaffolders, equipment operators, and electricians. For many of them, veterans of energy industry construction, the Sunrise project is old hat. Another plant, another day, another dollar.

“I’ve worked in this industry for 12 years,” says Justin LaRoche, a scaffolder who is halfway through his first shift. “So there’s not really anything that looks like it’s going to be an obstacle—any more than any other plant.”

Most of his fellow members agree. Their main issue is the weather. At certain times of the year, the wind is quite powerful. This shuts the work down because the crane can’t be used in high winds.

After lunch, I head off to see the site. My tour guide is Randy Molberg, a carpenter, surveyor, steward, and member of the on-site emergency response team (ERT). Each shift has six to eight ERT members who are specially trained in high-angle rescue, confined space, first aid, and more—even how to rescue someone from falling through the ice. They train every Sunday.

Randy’s been on the project since the beginning—when it was just a hole in the ground—and is one of the few remaining carpenters on site left to do the final formwork for 169 stair and ladder pads.

Before we walk back into the biting cold, Randy gives me cleats to strap onto my boots. It’s a new requirement for the site, put in place due to the slippery snow-covered roads and paths.

Our first stop is one of two processing buildings, which are mirror images of each other. Inside runs a maze of pipes that will be connected to the main equipment.

We climb to the top corner of the plant where an entire area is cordoned off with heavy tarps. As we walk in, we are hit with a wall of heat. Inside, workers are wrapping up work on an epoxy pour, which surrounds a concrete pad that will hold the main motor for this area. Unlike concrete, epoxy can withstand the vibrations of this massive piece of equipment.

But working with epoxy is no picnic.

“It sucks,” says Randy. “You need the area to be over 30°C degrees to pour it, and you’re in these hot Tyvek suits and masks.”

The workers must carry the epoxy in buckets and pour it into a three-inch gap. Once poured, it takes one week for it to set.

AS WE CLIMB BACK DOWN the stairs and go outside again, we’re met with a tangle of multicoloured pipes that stretches well over the size of a city block. It’s made up of over 150 pipe rack and process modules (mods) and package equipment units that were built primarily in Edmonton, transported 600 kilometres, and then lifted into place by three 300-tonne cranes.

All of the mods are now in place and the members are busy hooking all the pipes and electrical together. Only one of the three cranes remains—the rest have already been taken down.

We walk past the pipes to a massive dirt mound. Inside the pile is a very large tank, which will store hazardous liquids. It’s wrapped up in a thick black Nilex geomembrane—“like a taco,” as Randy says—as an added layer of protection.

“This was the most challenging part of the project,” says Randy. “We were working on it in October when the weather turned. It was cold and windy and no one was happy with how things were going.”

The Nilex is more slippery than ice, making it difficult to deal with at the best of times. And then there was the wind.

“We built hoardings [temporary board fences] and every night half of them would blow down,” says Randy. “Normally, they would have put off the work until the weather calmed down, but they were worried about the next shipment of mods coming and getting in the way, so we kept going.”

The wind eventually died down, and the “bullet,” as the tank is called, is resting comfortably inside its “taco,” ready to be covered over with clay.

Not far beyond the mound, we watch welders putting together three flare stacks.

“The stacks came in three sections,” says Randy. “It’s taken two months to put them together because these closure welds take so long. A single weld can take 12 hours.”

The B-pressure welders who are sealing the stacks have a heavy responsibility. Their welds have to be perfect. After all, you wouldn’t want one of these stacks to crack.

AS WE WALK BACK INTO the lunch trailer, the night shift arrives. These members face many of the same hazards that the day shift faces—with the added challenges that come with working at night.

We stop and I ask a couple of equipment operators, Donald Purdue and Cory Stinchcombe, what their biggest challenge is working at night.

“Sometimes, when the light shines through at night, your one window can become a mirror,” says Donald, who often drives a zoom boom on the site. “You’ve got to turn really slow and make sure you figure out where everything is.”

The main problem, of course, is the people—they don’t stand still.

“There’s a lot of foot traffic on the site and it’s fairly congested,” says Cory. “You basically have to have your head on a swivel.”

On such a large, complex site, safety is the biggest priority.

“I’ve worked in the industry for about 15 years, and this is one of the most professional sites I’ve been on,” says Cory. “It’s a good crew. Everyone looks out for everybody.”

OUR CONVERSATION IS CUT SHORT when the evening’s safety talk begins. The topic—working around heavy equipment.

After the talk, most of the workers make their way out of the hall, while those new to the site stay for a full orientation. I walk back to the vehicle, my boots squeaking on the crisp snow—even louder now in the cold night air.

The truck rumbles to life, and I’m struck by the thought that its movement is made possible by the work that many of these members have done in the past working in the oilsands. And as I head back to my warm accommodations—heated and powered by natural gas—I’m thankful for the thousands of CLAC members who endure the cold to provide the energy that we depend on—day and night.

 

Montney Basin Fast Facts

• 130,000 square kilometres
• 449 trillion cubic feet of natural gas
• 14.9 billion barrels of liquid by-products
• 1.1 billion barrels of oil

Source: naturalgasintel.com

 

Who's Building It?

 

Local 63 – Edmonton (February 2016 – February 2017)

 

CLAC members at Ledcor’s Nisku facility fabricated pipe spools. That work included examination, coating, postweld heat treatment, and hydro-testing. They also assembled pipe racks, mechanical, and other modules.

Local 68: Dawson Creek (July 2015 – August 2017)

CLAC members were responsible for all civil and earthworks activities, structural steel and module installations, piping installations, and hydro-testing and electrical and instrumentation installations.

Tradespeople Involved 

 

• Carpenters (site only)
• Crane operators
• Electricians
• Equipment operators
• Instrumentation
• Iron workers
• Labourers
• Millwrights
• Pipefitters
• Scaffolders
• Warehouse personnel
• Welders (CWB & Pressure)

 

Several other companies besides Ledcor are involved in the Sunrise project, including Fluor (project manager), Nilex Civil Environment Group, Harris Rebar, and Northwest Construction (NWS).

 

Au Natural

 

Natural gas is a relatively inexpensive energy source.

Much cleaner than coal, and more reliable than wind and solar, natural gas is being used more and more in the production of electricity, which is increasingly being favoured over gas and diesel fuel for transportation.

So even if oil production decreases, natural gas will remain in demand.

 

Best Part of the Job

JUSTIN LAROCHE
Scaffolder
Day shift

“The best part about being a scaffolder is that it’s something different every day. I like the challenges; I like to use my brain. It’s not repetitive because you're doing something new and a different task, and you don’t know what you’re up against when you come to work.”

RANDY MOLBERG
Carpenter, ERT member
Day shift

“The best part of working on this project has been seeing it come about out of the ground, because nine times out of ten, as a carpenter, I would have been laid off by this point. Seeing it from when I came here, when we were in the ground, to now where everything is in place and it’s just electrical and hooking everything up, and seeing the other trades complete their work, is something I don’t often get to see.”

NICK LEVANT
Labourer
Night shift

“Everyone here makes the two weeks go by so much smoother—the management, supervisors, the guys that I get to work with. That’s the best part of working here for me.

“Toughest part is getting up and going back for another night.”

SHANE STYLES
Scaffolder, ERT lead
Day shift

“It’s been great to see the project from the beginning to the end. I was the first scaffolder here, so I saw it when there was nothing here compared to now.

“For us scaffolders, our true grit enables us to conquer the challenges of climbing and pulling up gear at extreme heights in all weather conditions when entrusted by other trades to build them safe temporary work platforms. We don’t rush and we don’t drop anything. We identify hazards, implement safe strategies, and prevent incidents.

“I achieved 10,000 service hours with Ledcor Industrial Group by epitomizing a True Blue attitude [see ledcor.com/the-story-of-true-blue] during my six years of employment as a journeyman scaffolder. This includes working 2,080 hours at the Encana Saturn Sister Project and 3,165 hours at the Encana Sunrise Project.”

DONALD PURDON
Equipment operator
Night shift

“I’ve been operating equipment for 60 years. When we were kids, we were driving a team of horses or an old tractor down in Perth, Ontario.

“Best part of the project—we’ve got a good group of people and a good foreman.”

JOHN PARSONS
Scaffolder
Day shift

“Where haven’t I worked? Just in this past year, I did CNRL, Fort Hills, Ledcor, and KBR. This site has some extra safety protocols, like green mesh on all the raised walkways so nothing falls through to people below.

“The highlight is building cantilever scaffolds. They’re fun to build instead of system towers—the generic scaffolding.”

 

Misnomer

The popular 1990s-2000s TV teen soap opera Dawson’s Creek has nothing to do with the Canadian city Dawson Creek.

The show, set in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, did star one BC actor—Joshua Jackson—as Pacey. But that’s its only link to British Columbia.

The city of Dawson Creek, BC, is named for a waterway that runs through it, which itself was named after the man who surveyed the area in 1879, George Mercer Dawson.