MONTREAL – As politicians coast to coast engage in a war of words within the safety of TransCanada Corp.’s Energy East pipeline, Canada’s pipeline industry association is working to build confidence in an unlikely place: those who is going to be first in this area contrary goes completely wrong.
Across the country, the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association is holding meetings with first responders to drum up more grassroots support, specifically in Quebec where the project is facing a number of its most vocal resistance.
“We’re employed in order to make certain first responders’ interests are well-served when it comes to knowing what they need to know in case of pipeline emergencies and they establish relationships, build trust and strengthen confidence,” said Jim Donihee, chief operating officer from the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association in an interview using the Financial Post.
In recent weeks CEPA has held safety presentations in municipalities across Canada including Hamilton, Kingston, Ont., Lower Mainland B.C. and also the Montreal island suburb of in Pointe-Claire, Que, to be able to introduce firefighters and other officials as to the the association does, in addition to review systems which are in position for emergency response within the event of a rupture, explosion or other incident.
He explained that, in an emergency, representatives from the National Energy Board would rush onsite to be sure there’s oversight in co-ordinating with fire departments and other first responders, including paramedics, police and municipal representatives.
“As you can imagine, you receive a lot of people onsite immediately, so it’s crucial you’ve clear and efficient command and control in terms of how that unfolds,” said Donihee. “It is a very complex reaction but everybody is geared to get onsite and also to initiate the response and the cleanup as quickly as possible.”
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Donihee also says full people in CEPA have a mutual emergency assistance agreement, which, if enacted, means personnel and equipment from competing companies interact to help address the incident.
“It comes with an absolute commitment on the part of our members that when it comes to safety there isn’t any competition. We share everything openly and aggressively,” Donihee said. “We work to take lessons in the strong companies and also to affect those companies that might have a little bit of room for improvement.”
CEPA has 12 full members including Kinder Morgan Canada, TransCanada PipeLines Ltd, and Enbridge Pipelines Inc. and says it does not promote any particular projects.
Donihee says firefighters – both professional and volunteer – who live and work in the community are very important targets for CEPA’s safety sessions.
“It’s incredibly important for us to the touch them and to make sure that they have the information that they need to be able to respond in addition to gain their confidence. They’re ambassadors, they reside in every town, every village and each city,” Donihee said.
Some fire departments say the collaboration between CEPA and first responders will promote greater response capabilities simply because they can share everything from equipment to expertise.
After attending the Hamilton session, Burlington, Ont., deputy fire chief Karen Roche told the Financial Post she’s convinced through the safety precautions recommended by CEPA for future projects, which may include Energy East.
“They’ve demonstrated through this training that they take an all-hazards risk management method of all projects so that they can be ready for a variety of situations,” she said.
Burlington is an industry crossroads, and right now has the TransCanada gas pipeline, TransNorthern and Line-9 together with pump and metering stations. It’s additionally a transportation hub for rail and trucking.
In late January, Donihee also held a session within the Montreal island suburb only a week after Mayor Denis Coderre announced the city’s official opposition towards the proposed Energy East pipeline project.
In Quebec, not all first responders say they are convinced through the proposals.
Jacques Brub, director of the fire department and civil to safeguard the city of Terrebonne on Montreal’s north shore what food was in the meeting and states that, while he believes it’s a good idea for that industry to share safety info on behalf of its members, he is not yet convinced through the measures presented.
“We should convey the content from the Quebec reality that is far from being understood by members of CEPA,” he told the Financial Post following a session.
Line-9 and TransCanada pass through Terrebonne, with pump and metering stations, and the city has been slated as a municipality Energy East will pass through too.
Brub is also a person in the North Shore oversight committee of the Montreal Metropolitan Community association, that is headed by Coderre and it has officially announced it will oppose the Energy East pipeline at the next National Energy Board hearings.
Coderre said in January that the project presents a lot of environmental and public safety risks for the area without significant financial benefit.
Brub said that as they found the session useful comprehending the views of CEPA’s corporate sponsors.
“They only possess the power to make recommendations on behalf of the members,” he said.
Although these safety sessions were a pilot project and CEPA does not have any set dates for the future, Donihee says he hopes to hold more session to advertise the safety of its members pipelines especially where he faces probably the most opposition.
“We work to improve the standards and extremely to foster confidence and more open communications with all Canadians,” said Donihee.
“Clearly there is a need here in Quebec at the moment, which is why we’re here and I look forward to spending more time in Quebec.”
dvanderlinde@nationalpost.com
Twitter.com/DamonVDL
