Northern Gateway has no plans to shift its terminal from Kitimat to Prince Rupert, unless asked to do so by the National Energy Board.
Company spokesman Ivan Giesbrecht said the company considered many routes for its 1,177 km pipeline from Alberta's oil sands to the B.C. coast, including one ending in Prince Rupert, but in its final analysis it decided Kitimat was the best gateway to get the diluted bitumen to Asian markets.
"Kitimat is our preferred option," Giesbrecht said in an interview on Wednesday. "We chose Kitimat because it's the safest and safety is our top priority."
Although the current pipeline route runs through less treacherous terrain to Kitimat than Prince Rupert, the oil tankers will have to navigate the Douglas Channel - a challenge the tankers wouldn't have if the pipeline ended in Prince Rupert.
Enbridge CEO Al Monaco mused in an interview with the Globe and Mail published Wednesday that the company could still move the terminal to Prince Rupert.
"When we looked at Prince Rupert initially, we felt that while travelling along the Skeena was doable, we thought the risks to Kitimat were lower," Monaco told the paper. "Now, that doesn't mean that Prince Rupert wouldn't be possible. That's the decision we made at the time. Are we open to potentially going to other places? I suppose. But at the moment we have an application that goes to Kitimat."
Giesbrecht said the only way the company would change plans at this stage is if the National Energy Board's Joint Review Panel (JRP) were to order Enbridge to re-evaluate its options. The JRP is currently evaluating Northern Gateway's environmental assessment and will issue its final report in 2013. At any time before that the panel could ask the company to re-open its various routing scenarios.
Giesbrecht didn't want to speculate about what might happen to the company's plans if Prince Rupert was brought back onto the table.
"We are focused on our current application before the JRP - which clearly sets forth our proposal to safely build and operate a marine terminal in Kitimat," he said.
Opponents of the project have zeroed in on the Douglas Channel and the environmental impacts a possible spill would have on the marine environment as one of the main reasons they feel the pipeline should not be built. It's expected marine spill scenarios will be contentious issues when public hearings start in Prince Rupert next month.
Marine spills and navigation of the Douglas Channel have yet to be fleshed out in detail at the hearings because the National Energy Board has set aside certain days for specific topics.
The JRP will resume hearings in Prince George next week. Much of the time will be taken up by Northern Gateway lawyers asking questions of witnesses from various groups who have presented evidence as interveners.
