THE DIABOLICAL DEBACLE OF THE TRANS MOUNTAIN BOONDOGGLE

Mike Priaro

Shall we celebrate the imminent start of increased exports of crude oil from the federal expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline system?

I think not!

First, the cost. The total cost of the Trans Mountain project — $4.5 billion to buy the existing system, more than $0.8 billion in accumulated loan interest on the purchase loan, more than $34 billion in construction costs, and at least $12 billion to replace, sooner rather than later, the existing 71-year-old pipeline — will be more than $50 billion. No one will pay the full price to acquire this boondoggle.

Second, the liabilities. The total liability — of a dilbit spill into the Fraser River, onto the salmon grounds of the Fraser Delta, or into the Salish Sea/Gulf Islands/Puget Sound on whose shores live seven million; of a tanker collision with a passenger ferry, cruise ship, or the CP Rail and/or Trans Canada Highway bridges (shown in photo above) over the Second Narrows; or a conflagration at the 5.6 million barrel (a volume 100 times larger than the oil carried by the Lac-Mégantic train) tank farm on the side of steep Burnaby Mountain just above the densely-populated city of Burnaby and just below the Simon Fraser University campus whose only two escape routes cross just a few meters above the tank farm — is almost incalculable!

Third, the commercial failure. Pipeline tariffs on the expanded Trans Mountain system will be four times higher than existing tariffs. In addition,  there will be uncompetitive shipping tariffs because tanker size is limited by the shallow waters under Vancouver harbour’s Second Narrows bridges. This is sure to further increase the already highest fuel prices in Canada in B.C.’s Lower Mainland and Islands, which get some of their fuel from the Trans Mountain pipeline, and in the State of Washington which imports a significant amount of crude oil using the Puget Sound Pipeline extension of the Trans Mountain pipeline and exports refined products back to the B.C. Lower Mainland.

Fourth, the ecological contradictions. The Liberal government of Justin Trudeau imposed an oil tanker ban but only on B.C.’s north coast —not on B.C.’s crowded south coast, or in the ecologically-sensitive Bay of Fundy, Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the St. Lawrence River, or near the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.

Fifth, the lost opportunities. The two million bbl/d Eagle Spirit oil pipeline, proposed and supported by multiple First Nations, could have been built for less in an energy corridor also containing natural gas and gas liquids pipelines, and green hydropower to make Canadian LNG exports the greenest on Earth, to Prince Rupert — the safest location for an oil terminal on all of Canada’s west coast.

Go ahead, celebrate another Justin Trudeau fiscal, commercial, environmental, and ecological failure built in the face of an exhaustive federal study “Potential Pacific Coast Oil Ports: A Comparative Environmental Risk Analysis” that ranked the Burnaby oil terminal location the least safe on all of Canada’s west coast!

It would not surprise me to learn that much of the obscene overspending by the federal government on this project was a deliberate, diabolical ploy to ensure that this was the last oil pipeline ever to be built in Canada.

Mike Priaro, former Life Member, Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta

Calgary

April 28, 2024

Published by Mike Priaro

Mike Priaro, B.Eng.Sc. (Chem. Eng.), U.W.O. '76, P.Eng., Lifetime Member Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA), worked in facilities, production, operations and reservoir engineering, as engineering consultant, area superintendent, and engineering management in Alberta's oil patch for 25 years for companies such as Amoco and PetroCanada. He increased oil production from the historic Turner Valley oilfield and brought in under-balanced drilling and completion technology to drill out, complete, and test several of the highest producing gas wells ever on mainland Canada at Ladyfern. He co-authored ‘Advanced Fracturing Fluids Improve Well Economics’ in Schlumberger's Oilfield Review and developed the course material for the ‘Advanced Production Engineering’ course at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Mike has presented his work to Canada’s House Committee on Natural Resources in Ottawa and to the Senate Committee on Transportation and Communications in Calgary. He has had work published in: JNW Energy, Feb. 27, 2017; Alberta Oil magazine, Oct. 20, 2016; World Pipelines magazine, Sept. 2016; the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in the Mar. and Apr., 2014 and Feb., 2015 editions of Inside Policy magazine; energy industry websites such as RBN Energy and OilPrice.com; Oil and Gas Journal, Jul. 17, 2014; Petroleum Technology Quarterly, Q3 2014; and in columns in the Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Halifax Chronicle Herald, and others. Mike has no formal connection to any oil company, environmental organization, think tank, labour organization, lobbying or special interest group, academia, or to provincial or federal politics. In 2015 Mike provided "A Preliminary Engineering, Economic, and Environmental Evaluation of ASRL's Partial Upgrading Process" to Alberta Sulphur Research Limited and presented it to 80 representatives of ASRL's member companies. ASRL partial upgrading subsequently obtained Alberta government funding and industry support. On Jan. 29, 2016, the Alberta Government made partial upgrading a priority based on its Royalty Review Panel’s recommendations. ASRL’s partial upgrading flow test pilot ran at CANMET/NRCan’s research facility in Devon, AB during 2016. In 2016 Mike was invited to be a Bowman Centre Volunteer Associate at the not-for-profit Bowman Centre for Sustainable Energy. Its mission is 'to catalyze big energy projects which drive Canada’s energy strategy and generate sustainable wealth and jobs'. Mike’s work can also be found on his LinkedIn pages: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-priaro or Behance website: https://www.behance.net/Mike_Priaro

Leave a comment