A National Energy Board of Canada (NEB) public hearing is underway in Toronto concerning the controversial application for Enbridge to reverse the flow and increase the capacity of an existing 639-kilometre-long section of its Line 9 from Ontario to Quebec, enabling Enbridge to pump bitumen from the Alberta tar sands to the east.
The Toronto hearings were supposed to have concluded on Oct. 19, but final arguments have been postponed to a date as yet to be announced. According to Eric Prud’Homme, manager of public affairs, Eastern Canada, for Enbridge, the final segment was postponed for security reasons, which Enbridge can not disclose the nature of.
“We were prepared, present and willing to provide our closing arguments on Friday or Saturday without protest,” said Prud’Homme.
Line 9 runs through North York near Finch Avenue, and the proposed reversal has concerned many residents of Toronto. Some believe that the aging pipeline can not handle the increased flow, and many are disturbed about the diluted bitumen that would be flowing through Toronto. Bitumen is heavier and more viscous than crude oil and was the same substance which famously spilled into the waters of Kalamazoo, Mich., in 2010 — a spill that Enbridge is still cleaning up three years later.
“Given the many deficiencies uncovered in Enbridge’s application … there is a high risk that Line 9 will rupture,” said Richard Kuprewicz, president of pipeline safety firm Accufacts Inc., in a report assessing the line, submitted to the NEB.
On Oct. 6, a protest concert, Rock the Line, was organized at Mel Lastman Square by Environmental Defence. Singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer was among the performers.
“This will be high-pressure tar sands pumped through a 40-year-old dilapidated pipeline,” said Harmer. “It’s a bad idea that needs to be rejected. And most people don’t know about it.”
Prud’Homme, however, said that the public review of the line has been very extensive. “We’ve engaged thousands of people over the past year.”