[All] Fwd: Great Toronto Star coverage about Line 9 & TTC

[Eleanor Grant]

The pipeline runs ABOVE Yonge/Finch subway stn, just inches from busy
stairs and escalators .....

Eleanor
 ---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "guelphgap" <guelphgap at gmail.com>
Date: Oct 6, 2013 6:36 PM
Subject: Great Toronto Star coverage about Line 9 & TTC
To:
Cc:

Enbridge oilsands pipeline plan raises chilling issues for GTA Line 9B,
which if reversed could carry diluted bitumen, passes within metres of
sensitive spots like Finch station, creating the spectre of a disastrous
spill.
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*By:* Jessica McDiarmid<http://www.thestar.com/authors.mcdiarmid_jessica.html>
 News reporter, Published on Wed Oct 02 2013
 *EXPLORE THIS STORY*
 1 PHOTO 90COMMENTS
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Republish<http://license.icopyright.net/3.7212?icx_id=/content/thestar/news/gta/2013/10/02/enbridge_oilsands_pipeline_plan_raises_chilling_issues_for_gta>

A pipeline that’s flowed quietly beneath Toronto for 37 years is under
increased scrutiny as its operator looks to expand, prompting the city to
raise startling concerns about how it would deal with a potential disaster.

Toronto is one of more than half a dozen municipalities along the
639-kilometre stretch of the Enbridge pipeline whose submissions to the
National Energy
Board<http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/clf-nsi/rthnb/pplctnsbfrthnb/nbrdgln9brvrsl/nbrdgln9brvrsl-eng.html>
have
highlighted alarming safety issues with proposed changes to Line 9B.

For example, at the Finch subway station, the pipeline runs less than two
metres below the sidewalk and 60 centimetres above the subway structure,
cinched between the stairwell of the Bishop Ave. entrance and escalators
leading to the Metrolinx terminal.

“Neither the TTC, Toronto Fire Services nor Enbridge appear to have any
specific contingency plan to manage a leak of petroleum should this occur
near the TTC entrances,” reads the city’s final submission. “The top stair
of the Bishop Avenue stairwell is at grade and provides no barrier to the
flow of the product should there be a release.
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“If any petroleum product was discharged either down the stairs or the
escalators, or by other routes into the TTC concourse, platform or track
level, there would be an enormous risk to thousands of daily passengers and
TTC workers.”

Enbridge wants NEB approval to increase the capacity of Line
9B<http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/04/20/enbridge_proposal_to_pump_tarsands_bitumen_shines_a_light_on_torontos_aging_underground_oil_pipelines.html>
from
240,000 barrels per day to 300,000, as well as reverse its flow from
westbound to eastbound, allowing it to carry heavy crude from Alberta’s
oilsands to refineries in Quebec. It currently carries an average of
160,000 barrels per day.

Kingston resident Rick Munroe, an intervenor in the proceedings, whose
photos of an Enbridge warning sign next to the Finch subway entrance are
included in the city’s submission, called the situation “ridiculous.”

“If that pipe ever ruptured and began to flow down that open stairwell,
people would be completely blindsided because they do not know. No one uses
TTC Finch even thinking that it’s a possibility,” said Munroe.

Similarly, Toronto Fire Services criticized Enbridge’s emergency manual as
a “generic” document that doesn’t address a Toronto-specific response.

Enbridge is responsible in the event of a spill, but its current response
time of between 90 minutes and four hours has raised the hackles of
municipalities along Line 9B. In most cases, municipal fire departments
would be the first responders.

“Toronto Fire requires a reduction in response time … to mitigate or
prevent the need to evacuate (which could be up to many tens of thousands
of Toronto residents, or higher),” reads Toronto’s submission.

The fire department wants meetings with Enbridge to determine specific
steps it should take in the event of a leak or spill, along with a host of
information about the pipeline, such as detailed maps of the pipeline,
information on control valves, and details of Enbridge’s resources should a
spill occur.

Meanwhile, Hamilton’s fire services complained that Enbridge is “not
prepared to provide” emergency responders with adequate information for
them to prepare a response to a pipeline emergency.

And Toronto’s legal department warned that the municipality and its
residents could incur “very significant” costs in the event of a Line 9
spill, as it sought assurance that the company has adequate resources to
compensate residents, businesses and the city, including in the event of
mass evacuations.

Ward 8 (York West) Councillor Anthony Perruzza, who pushed to have the city
take a seat at the pipeline
hearings<http://www.thestar.com/business/2013/02/22/toronto_council_eyes_enbridge_proposal_for_toronto_oil_sands_pipeline.html>,
said he worries about the integrity of the pipeline and what will happen if
there is a leak or a spill.

He said the “best-case scenario” would be for Enbridge to abandon its plans.

“But I understand that’s not realistic, and I also understand that’s
impractical, so (the goal) is to ensure the integrity of the line is
quantified as best as possible, that we’re completely assured that we’re
not going to have a Kalamazoo happen here,” said the councillor, whose ward
contains a section of the pipeline.

He was referring to a 2010 Enbridge spill that spewed 3.3 million litres of
oil into the Kalamazoo River near Marshall, Mich. The incident cost the
company upwards of $1 billion and counting — the cleanup still isn’t
complete.

That disaster, the largest on-land spill in U.S. history, highlighted some
of the dangers of diluted bitumen, or dilbit, which proved far more
difficult to clean up than typical light crude.

Enbridge’s proposal would see Line 9B, a 30-inch pipe that runs between
North Westover, near Hamilton, to Montreal, carry dilbit at times, flowing
across dozens of creeks and waterways in the GTA alone.

Enbridge spokesperson Graham White said the company can’t “provide any
detailed comment or statements or information” outside of the NEB process,
for legal reasons. But he said Enbridge is responsible for spills, cleanup
and costs and regularly provides municipalities with training and resources
“to ensure that they are able to respond effectively, quickly and
knowledgeably to the release of any of our products.”

Enbridge has met regularly with municipalities over the course of the
proposal to address concerns, he said.

That includes the TTC, said the transit agency’s spokesperson, Brad Ross.

“The reversal of the flow is really not at issue; it’s more just making
sure that with the increased flows that there is a site-specific risk
assessment and emergency protocols in place,” Ross said. “We understand
that is happening and we will be meeting with Enbridge around that kind of
thing.”

Toronto spokesperson Wynna Brown said the city can’t discuss the details of
its submission until upcoming hearings.

“But I can advise that staff at the city, and a number of other
municipalities, have put significant time and effort into this review to
ensure that the Enbridge application meets the highest standards for
pipeline integrity and spill response preparedness, the issues raised by
Council,” she wrote in an email. “If there are any outstanding concerns, we
will be recommending conditions to ensure they are appropriately addressed.”

Intervenors, such as Toronto, and commentators have made final submissions.
The last step in the process will be summary arguments, made in writing by
Oct. 3 or at hearings scheduled for Montreal from Oct. 8 to 11 and Toronto
from Oct. 16 to 19.

-- 
*Peace and Solidarity,*
*GAP Action*
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