[All] Fw: Pipeline Liablity & need to update CPCN Certificates

[Lanteigne]

 Hi folks
This letter of warning I sent to the ministries and FN reps is about Enbridge's CPCN permits as it relates to liability risks. 

This is a major issue being voiced in the US and yet in Canada is still remarkably silent on all this. It's only a matter of time before Canada has to deal with it. 

The issue here relates to Enbridge but Economist Robyn Allen told me she saw the same with TransMountain. Her affidavit during that process flagged the same kind of issues. It's a systemic issue.

Harper approved all the pipelines using Section 58 orders to bypass NEB approvals basically but in doing so he also bypassed Professional Engineering standards, liability coverage protocols, FERC laws and cabinet. No fiscal or judicial prudence was used for any of this. 

It's a hot mess and the sooner communities can cut their dependency on this fiscal structure the better. 

Lulu 



   ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Lanteigne <water.lulu at yahoo.ca>To: Justin Trudeau <justin.trudeau at parl.gc.ca>; Bardish Chagger <bardish.chagger at parl.gc.ca>; Catherine Fife - CO <cfife-co at ndp.on.ca>; charlie.angus at parl.gc.ca <charlie.angus at parl.gc.ca>; pbellegarde at afn.ca <pbellegarde at afn.ca>; chrystia.freeland at parl.gc.ca <chrystia.freeland at parl.gc.ca>; Seamus.ORegan at parl.gc.ca <seamus.oregan at parl.gc.ca>; MOE Minister Catherine McKenna <catherine.mckenna at parl.gc.ca>; Carolyn Bennett <carolyn.bennett at parl.gc.ca>; Bill.Blair at parl.gc.ca <bill.blair at parl.gc.ca>; Peter.Watson at cer-rec.gc.ca <peter.watson at cer-rec.gc.ca>; marc.garneau at parl.gc.ca <marc.garneau at parl.gc.ca>; orcea at coo.org <orcea at coo.org>; stephen_augustine at cbu.ca <stephen_augustine at cbu.ca>Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2019, 1:35:33 a.m. ESTSubject: Pipeline Liablity & need to update CPCN Certificates
 Dear Hon. Prime Minister, Chiefs et al. 

My name is Louisette Lanteigne and I am writing this letter today as a warning of the risks I see about the lack of liability coverage on high pressure pipelines crossing Canada right now. This involves systems going through both Canadian and First Nations lands. The need is there to review and update CPCN certificates and clear up policies in order to reasonably assure proper liability coverage of the infrastructure to protect communities and the people working on these systems.

Based on what I have personally observed the need is there to review all of Enbridge's pipelines to assure that CPCN permits are bound to their legal pipeline owners. CPCN is the Certificate of Public Needs and it can only be issued by way of the National Energy Board (NEB) which is now called the Canadian Energy Regulator (CER). It is illegal to do construction work on a pipeline without that certificate at a site. 

We need to review who is certifiably liable for a spill, the parent company or their subsidiary? We need to define that ownership clearly before we have issues of major pipeline spills. Promises are not enough. We need rock solid policy to protect the public interest.  

The reason I state this is due to the following. 

Enbridge was using US shell companies to move money from Canada to the US to pay Canadian employees using firms that had ZERO employees.  The name of the company was Enbridge Energy Partners and the issue was noted in this report by Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. on behalf of Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. Form 10-K for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2008 Filed February 19, 2009 File No. 1-10934. If you scroll down and look at the illustration of the corporate structure you will see the issue. They were claiming tax rebates on a Canadian tax free MLP systems using this method. 
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/880285/000119312509089950/filename1.htm

The US FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)  has since prohibited this practice in 2018.https://www.ferc.gov/media/news-releases/2018/2018-1/03-15-18-G-2.asp
Prior to 2018, Enbridge also switched ownership of the Canadian Mainline Pipeline Systems and Line 9 from Enbridge Pipeline Inc. to the US based Enbridge Income Fund in 2015. The sale of these assets and more cost 30.4 Billion dollars. This is noted in the Enbridge Press release regarding the sale as seen in Enbridge's PDF of their press release here: 
http://www.enbridgeincomefund.com/~/media/Income%20Fund/PDFs/News%20Releases/ENF_NewsRelease_June19_2015.pdf
There was no NEB approval for the sale of these assets. This fact was confirmed to be my NEB chair (currently CER) Peter Watson. I was interviewed on the news story of this issue with the National Observer in 2015. It's online here: 
Enbridge Line 9 changing hands

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Enbridge Line 9 changing hands

Enbridge assures worried Ontarians that pipeline safety will not be compromised.
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OPP officers witnessed the communications I had with Mr. Watson regarding the sale of these pipelines.  They refused to investigate the case so I filed a complaint and found the issue of allowing the transfer of assets without NEB approval was rooted to the Prime Minister's Office under Stephen Harper. That was confirmed in the OPP's letter of response that I received. See attachments for that.
 Currently the only CPCN permit for Enbridge Line 9, which was given to me by NEB chair Peter Watson by email, as witnessed by  OPP officers, shows that Enbridge's name is not even on the current CPCN certificate. It is made out to Interprovincial Pipe Line Limited.  There were several corporate name variations that took place between that specific company name and the current Enbridge Inc. and you can view the list of those corporate names on Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enbridge
The only time I witnessed Enbridge's name in regards to a CPCN certificate involving Line 9 oil pipeline related to the sale of the end portion of Enbridge Line 9  to Valero. Ownership was bound to Enbridge Pipeline Inc. at that point in time but this section is no longer owned by them. See attachments for those documents. Again this information was provided to me by Peter Watson as witnessed by OPP officers. 

In response to the FERC ruling, in 2018, Canadian Enbridge Inc. purchased Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Limited who was the owner of the Canadian Mainline Pipeline System and Line 9. We see Enbridge Inc. flipping the pipeline ownerships and corporate names repeatedly, again without NEB approvals or updates to the CPCN. We need to do a proper audit and clear this up to keep the liability information updated and to assure work done on these high pressure pipelines is done in compliance to labour laws and professional engineering policies. 

Note: Pipeline firms like Enbridge are currently outside the jurisdictional authority of Professional Engineers Ontario. This practice should cease. There should be no exemptions on doing a job safety and in compliance to proper engineering standards otherwise it's simply an abuse of dominance situation which poses a public risk. 

The Minnesota Department of Commerce already confirmed that none of the Enbridge US mainline pipelines have adequate insurance for crude spills. (Including Line 5) Details here: http://www.startribune.com/enbridge-oil-spill-insurance-inadequate-minnesota-regulators-say/490940011/
 Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the following in a recently published report that: 

“In the event of a catastrophic oil spill, the people of the state of Michigan could be left holding the bag for more than a billion dollars in unfunded liability.” 

She also stated:

“In the Minnesota PUC hearing, Mr. Johnston testified that Enbridge, Inc. is not contractually obligated to stand behind the indemnity agreements of a subsidiary,” the report reads. “Based on the testimony of Mr. Johnston, the contribution of funds under an indemnity agreement made with a subsidiary would appear to be a purely voluntary endeavor for Enbridge, Inc.”
Note: The chief financial officer of Enbridge Energy Partners L.P., Chris Johnston, recently testified before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in November 2018 during a hearing for Enbridge’s plan to replace its existing Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota. 

Source of this information is here: https://www.michiganadvance.com/2019/11/05/enbridge-denies-states-report-that-it-could-evade-oil-spill-cleanup-costs/
At this point I am concerned that since the National Energy Board (NEB) changed names to the Canadian Energy Regulator (CER) that previous NEB CPCN certificates may not prove "contractual obligations" due to all the name switches of both regulator and corporate entities. Unless it is strictly noted in policy that the laws of the NEB to CER must be consistent, there may be room for people to argue on the technicality of that issue. 

So the need is there to revise, revamp and update actual contractual obligations and I'd like to see that done in compliance with UNDRIP as well because all beneficiaries and communities need to be reasonably informed and protected here. All deals made by these pipeline companies with both Canada and First Nations have to have regard for the well being of the communities they cross. 
The liability risks have to be cleared up and updated to protect everyone. 

If a job is being done, the public deserves the right to see the permits that allowed it. That includes the relevant CPCN certificate as well as water taking permits etc. This information should be provided online in the public records associated with the project. As a delegate of multiple NEB hearings the only time I've seen that information provided to the public is by way of my own written comments and affidavits. One shouldn't have to ask for that. If a relevant CPCN and other permits exists, it should be provided to the public in the documents specific to each project.  


Thank you/Wela'lin/Miigwetch
Louisette Lanteigne700 Star Flower Ave.Waterloo OntN2V 2L2 





  
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