Pipeline through mountain parks complete
Kinder Morgan careful of environmental risk
Dave Cooper
The Edmonton Journal
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
EDMONTON -- The new large-size Trans Mountain pipeline, which traversed some the world's most beautiful -- and environmentally sensitive -- landscape through Jasper National Park and Mount Robson Provincial Park, is complete.
Kinder Morgan Canada said Monday the Anchor Loop project, a new 36-inch (91-centimetre) diameter line between Hinton and Jackman, B.C., just west of Mount Robson, is now operational. The new line runs beside the existing 24-inch (61-cm) line, which has been deactivated but could see service again in the future.
The 62-km Mount Robson section was built during the summer and finished ahead of schedule. The 97-km Jasper section was completed in April.
The disturbed Jasper land was restored over the summer. Next summer, Mount Robson will get the same treatment.
"Next year's work will be critical to this park," said Mount Robson park supervisor Wayne Van Velzen.
"The company has done a wonderful job, but we are keeping a pretty close eye on this," he said.
The B.C. provincial park official says Kinder Morgan "is setting a good example of how this kind of work should be done."
Greg Toth, project director for the Trans Mountain project, said the company is keenly aware the public is watching.
"This is a unique project. We had a choice of two routes, but managed to put all but one kilometre of the whole 160-kilometre line in the same right of way as the existing line," he said. "We went as close as two metres."
The firm also recovered seeds and had them grown in greenhouses so the Jasper route could be replanted with appropriate vegetation.
The $527-million Anchor Loop, part of the Trans Mountain line expansion called TMX1, twinned the line through the parks to increase capacity from 260,000 to 300,000 barrels a day. Unsure if it could ever return to the parks to build new pipelines, Kinder Morgan overbuilt the parks segment.
"We can only go through here once, so we built for the future," said Toth.
The existing lines outside the park are still 24-inch. The next phase, when the market develops, is to increase the line from Edmonton to Hinton with a new 36-inch line, and do the same to the section from Jackman to Kamloops, B.C.
A third phase would see a new 36-inch line all the way to Vancouver and the Puget Sound area of Washington State.
As well, oil could go through a spur line to a tanker dock at Kitimat, B.C.
The additional large-sized lines would increase overall capacity to 400,000 barrels. Eventually, both the 24-inch and 36-inch lines could transport a total of 700,000 barrels a day of various products, from heavy crudes to refined products like gasoline. Eventually, the 24-inch line would be used solely to ship refined products.
The existing 1,150-km Trans Mountain system is the only direct pipeline link that transports crude oil and refined products from the Edmonton area to the Vancouver area.
The market along the Pacific coast for crude from the Alberta oilsands is expected to grow as Alaska's Prudhoe Bay crude shipments decline due to natural depletion.
dcooper@thejournal.canwest.com
© The Edmonton Journal 2008
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