Media Statement January 11, 2016
Canada needs an immediate moratorium on shipping diluted bitumen in coastal B.C. waters
For immediate release

Victoria B.C. – In light of the provincial government’s final submission to the Trans Mountain National Energy Board (NEB) hearings that described BC’s spill response capacities as insufficient, Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay – Gordon Head and Leader of the B.C. Green Party, is calling on the provincial and federal governments to establish a moratorium on the transport of diluted bitumen (dilbit) along our coast.

While encouraged to see the provincial government finally agreeing our coastline is unprepared to deal with a major dilbit spill, he notes that it is inconsistent with their continued approval of the bitumen-filled tankers that travel through our marine environment – currently at the average rate of one per week.

“The BC government is admitting one thing and allowing another,” says Andrew Weaver. “In 2013 I added a 6th condition – a complete ban on the shipment of dilbit along our coast – to the province’s five approval criteria. With a dangerously low ability to deal with spills and limited scientific understanding of how dilbit will interact with BC’s waters, that 6th condition is overdue and essential.”

Trans Mountain based their entire analysis of the fate and behaviour of (dilbit) in the marine environment on the faulty assumption that dilbit floats. Published evidence, together with a Federal government study, and assessment reports from both the Royal Society of Canada’s Expert Panel on The Behaviour and Environmental Impacts of Crude Oil Released into Aqueous Environments as well as the US National Academy of Sciences Committee on the Effects of Diluted Bitumen on the Environment, all of which Andrew submitted as evidence to the NEB, clearly conclude otherwise.

In its final submission to the NEB hearings the provincial government noted that Trans Mountain had not provided adequate information on spill prevention and response, therefore not meeting a key component of the provincial five conditions required for approval of heavy oil pipelines. However the government said they will continue to evaluate the project.

“The B.C. Government submission emphasizes what I and other intervenors have been saying throughout the hearing process. There simply is not an adequate response in place now, nor likely in the future, to deal with a diluted bitumen spill.” says Andrew Weaver, “I am calling on the Federal Government to halt all current shipments of dilbit. The risk is simply too high.”

Andrew Weaver’s final argument in the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Hearing Process, submitted Friday January 8th​, cited “substantive deficiencies” in Trans Mountain’s application and detailed their inability to provide adequate responses to intervenor’s questions. Because of these concerns, and the NEB’s failure to include cumulative upstream and downstream effects on  climate, Andrew Weaver has urged the NEB to reject their application.

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Media Contact
Mat Wright
– Press Secretary, Andrew Weaver MLA
1 250 216 3382
mat.wright@leg.bc.ca

It has been nearly two years since I became an Intervenor in the Trans Mountain National Energy Board Hearing. My team and I spent many hundreds of hours pouring over a 15,000 page application; we submitted nearly 600 questions; we made countless motions arguing that Trans Mountain had not, in fact, answered our original questions; we’ve written numerous blog posts highlighting our concerns over the Trans Mountain pipeline proposal.

Today we submitted our 50-page final argument to the National Energy Board. As you will see from the Media Release, reproduced below, I firmly believe that the NEB should dismiss the application due to the existence of “substantive deficiencies”.

Thank you to the numerous constituents, colleagues and citizens of British Columbia who responded to our surveys, attended our town halls and emailed my office with information. I am especially grateful to the staff I had the distinct honour of working with over the lengthy intervention process: Taylor Hartrick, Evan Pivnick, Judy Fainstein, Teresa Hartrick, Claire Hume, Aldous Sperl and Mat Wright.

My final participation the hearing process will occur at 13:30 on Wednesday, January 20, at the Delta Burnaby Hotel and Conference Centre, 4331 Dominion Street, Burnaby, British Columbia. There I will be giving an my oral summary argument directly to the National Energy Board.

Media Release

Media Statement: January 8, 2016
Final Arguments on Trans Mountain Pipeline Hearings Submitted by Andrew Weaver
For Immediate Release

Victoria, B.C. – Today Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay Gordon Head and Leader of the B.C. Green Party submitted his Final Argument in the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Hearing Process.

As an intervenor, Andrew Weaver argued that Trans Mountain had failed to adequately and accurately represent the full scope of risks and impacts that a diluted bitumen (dilbit) spill would have. He also stated that Trans Mountain had failed to represent a clear and satisfactory ability to respond to a dilbit spill.

“It is critical that we understand just how unprepared we are for a dilbit spill on British Columbia’s coast,” said Andrew Weaver. “This isn’t just hypothetical – we already have heavy oil tankers in our coastal waters.”

Andrew Weaver’s final argument noted that due to these “substantive deficiencies,” the application should be dismissed by the NEB.

Of particular concern in this process was Trans Mountain’s ability to respond to a spill of heavy oil. Trans Mountain based much of their analysis on the faulty assumption that dilbit would float. What little science there is available examining this issue has found that bitumen has the ability to sink in the presence of suspended particles, of which there is no shortage in British Columbia’s coastal waters.

“Trans Mountain consistently failed to provide scenarios that could sustain even the most basic scrutiny,” said Andrew Weaver. “This project needs to be halted until we better understand the science of heavy oil in marine environments and British Columbia’s spill prevention and response capabilities are greatly updated.”

A report issued by US authorities in April, 2015 warned that Canada’s major oil spill clean up protocol is decades behind their own.

Andrew Weaver applied to participate in the hearing process as both a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Oak Bay Gordon Head, and as a scientist with a doctorate in applied mathematics with a specialty in physical oceanography, atmospheric and climate science.

Andrew Weaver will be presenting his oral summary argument to the National Energy Board on Wednesday January 20^th 2016 at the Delta Burnaby Hotel and Conference Centre.

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Media contact

Mat Wright
Press Secretary – Andrew Weaver MLA
Cell: 250 216 3382
Mat.wright@leg.bc.ca

Twitter: @MatVic
Parliament Buildings
Room 027C
Victoria BC V8V 1X4

Media Release- September 3^rd 2015
Serious questions must be asked about Trans Mountain Hearing Process
For Immediate Release
 
Victoria B.C. – After more than a year and a half, the National Energy Board (NEB) hearings for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project remain on hold as the previous deadline for final arguments passes. Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay Gordon Head and Deputy Leader of the BC Green Party is reiterating his call for the BC Government to establish it’s own review process.

September 3rd had been the deadline for intervenors to submit their final arguments for the NEB’s consideration under the old timeline. No new timeline has been established for when intervenors will submit their final arguments, or when the process will be resumed.

“My office prepared almost sixty pages of final arguments calling into question the evidence Kinder Morgan provided, especially around spill response.” said Andrew Weaver. “It is outrageous that once again the very impartiality of the process needs to be seriously debated. We’ve spent hundreds of hours operating under ridiculous time constraints reading thousands of pages of evidence to prepare our submissions and final arguments. The fact that in the eleventh hour the NEB is forced to put the hearing on hold points to the complete dysfunction of the current review process.”

The hearings were suspended by the NEB after Steven Kelly was appointed by Stephen Harper to the NEB in late July. Mr. Kelly is an energy consultant who was involved with preparing evidence that Kinder Morgan is in part relying on to justify the economics of their project,. This has set off a review by the NEB to identify the evidence that is connected to Mr. Kelly, striking any from the record that isn’t replaced by Kinder Morgan.

“The BC government is quick to suggest it’s five conditions are sufficient in ensuring that a project is in the best interests of British Columbians. ” said Andrew Weaver. “The fact is the five conditions can not, and do not act as a replacement for a rigorous process that allows for a diversity of intervenors to cross examine and test the evidence provided. I have lost confidence in the process. It is time for the BC Government to pull out of the equivalency agreement for this project and begin laying plans to initiate its own, rigorous review process.”

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Media Contact

Mat Wright
Press Secretary – Andrew Weaver, MLA
Cell: 250 216 3382
Email: Mat.Wright@leg.bc.ca

Media Release – August 12th 2015
Key Issues Remain Unaddressed in Draft Conditions on Trans Mountain Pipeline
For Immediate Release

Victoria B.C. – Today the National Energy Board today released 145 draft conditions for the Trans Mountain Pipeline. While highlighting a number of existing deficiencies in the application, the conditions fail to address several key concerns with the project.

“There appears to be no reference to the unique properties of diluted bitumen and its fate and behaviour in the marine environment,” said Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay Gordon head and Deputy Leader of the BC Greens. “We still have very limited scientific understanding as to what would happen if a diluted bitumen spill were to occur in our coastal waters. But published evidence suggests that a spill clean up would be much more difficult than in the case for traditional crude, if it is possible at all.”

Back in 2013, the NEB’s draft conditions for Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline included a requirement to fund a research program to study the behaviour of heavy oil (diluted bitumen) spills in freshwater and marine environments. Yet today there was no mention of any requirement for such a study.

One of the conditions released today touches on the need to expand the existing oil spill response capacity. However it fails to acknowledge the fact that there is evidence to suggest that Trans Mountain has in some cases overstated the existing response abilities.

“I am pleased that the NEB is requiring Trans Mountain to have a plan to respond to bigger spills faster. But the fact remains that under numerous weather conditions, a spill response would be impossible or severely constrained. Furthermore, there is a substantial difference between actual recovery rates and spill response capacity.” said Weaver

“It’s hard not to draw comparisons back to the Enbridge review panel, where 199 conditions were released and cross examination ensured that the risks of the project were far more rigourously examined and questioned,” noted Andrew Weaver. “The review process for the Trans Mountain project was degraded to a paperwork exchange, and many critical issues with the project remain unaddressed to this day.”

Dr. Weaver’s final argument will be available in early September when it is submitted to the National Energy Board.

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Media Contact

Mat Wright
Press Secretary – Andrew Weaver, MLA
Cell: (1) 250 216 3382 Email:
Mat.Wright@leg.bc.ca

​

Media Statement – May 19, 2015
Allan’s Withdrawal from Pipeline Hearings gives Urgency for Province to do the Same
For Immediate Release

Andrew Weaver, MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Head and Deputy Leader of the B.C. Green Party, says that Robyn Allan’s withdrawal from the National Energy Board hearings on the Trans Mountain pipeline gives new urgency to his call that the provincial government pull out of the federal hearings and hold its own made-in-BC review.

“Robyn Allan was one of the real leaders in the Trans Mountain pipeline hearings,” says Andrew Weaver. “When someone as credible and as thoughtful as Robyn Allan writes such a scathing review of this process, we’d be wise to listen.”

Allan’s withdrawal comes just one month after the English Bay oil spill that saw several Vancouver beaches closed due to human health risks from the toxic oil slick. A recent report commissioned by the City of Vancouver emphasised the dire consequences for marine life should a larger spill occur.

An economist and former CEO of ICBC, Allan has been one of the most active intervenors in the NEB hearings. When it was discovered that oral cross-examination had been excluded from the review, Allan led intervenors in what was ultimately an unsuccessful effort to get it reinstated. The lack of oral cross-examination has been described as one of the deepest flaws in the hearing process, seriously undermining intervenors’ ability to evaluate Trans Mountain’s proposal.

Weaver is currently the only B.C. MLA with intervenor status in the hearings. He has been calling on the B.C. government to pull out and hold their own review process for more than six months.

“British Columbians have rightfully lost confidence in the Trans Mountain hearings. Our coastline is too important to leave up to such a flawed process. It’s time for the province to withdraw.”

Last week, Weaver tabled a Private Member’s Bill designed to help British Columbians regain control over the approval of oil pipelines. If passed, the bill would provide an additional tool to residences to force the B.C. government to pull out of the Federal-Provincial Environmental Assessment Equivalency Agreement and hold its own provincial review process.

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Mat Wright
Press Secretary – Andrew Weaver MLA
Cell: 250 216 3382
Mat.wright@leg.bc.ca
Twitter: @MatVic

Parliament Buildings
Room 027C
Victoria BC V8V 1X4