TransCanada’s plan to build a camp for hundreds of pipeline workers at Tchesinkut Lake is attracting concern from officials at the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako (RDBN), which is questioning the company’s approach to liquid waste disposal, invasive plants and other issues.
Located about 15 km south of Burns Lake, the Tchesinkut Lake work camp is expected to house some 600 Coastal Gaslink (CGL) workers during the peak period of pipeline construction, in operations that would span about two years. The CGL pipeline would carry natural gas from Dawson Creek to a planned LNG Canada facility at Kitimat where it would be super-cooled and exported.
But construction of the camp can’t go ahead without the approval of the RDBN, and planning officials from the regional district say TransCanada has refused to apply for permits until after contracts have already been awarded for the construction and operation of the proposed facility.
“TransCanada’s position appears to assume that their facilities will be allowed as proposed,” said RDBN planner Jennifer MacIntyre in a memo to the RDBN board. “The delay in making the necessary applications will minimize the local community’s ability to play a meaningful role in the land use decision-making process.”
Concerns about the proposed camp were outlined in a March 3 report by RDBN planning director Jason Llewellyn. The report states that TransCanada should consider upgrading public infrastructure to deal with liquid waste at the facility.
“It would be a shame if money is spent unnecessarily on hauling waste long distances, or building on-site disposal facilities which will be abandoned, rather than investing in improving local community infrastructure,” according to the report.
The report also argues that TransCanada should commit annual funding to the Northwest Invasive Plant Council (NWIPC) in order to fight the spread of plants that the regional district says will spread along the pipeline route. “The cost of combating these inevitable invasive plant outbreaks will be at the expense of the residents of the RDBN if TransCanada does not contribute to the NWPIC,” the report says.
The RDBN also wants TransCanada to make sure all wood harvested along the pipeline route is used — partly to avoid the spread of the spruce beetle among fallen logs — and for the company to develop an emergency plan so that it doesn’t rely on local fire or emergency services. The report also calls for TransCanada to commit to hiring local and Indigenous workers and to set up a formal process for public complaints related to pipeline construction.
At a meeting on March 15, the RDBN board approved plans for a review of the effects that the camp would have on the community.
RDBN staff are planning a public meeting to inform the public about the work camp, and to give people a chance to ask questions and provide feedback about the project. No date has been set for the public meeting.
Asked to respond to concerns that TransCanada is delaying its permit applications, company spokesperson Jacquelynn Benson said the pipeline “remains in the planning process only” until the LNG Canada consortium makes its final investment decision about the export facility in Kitimat.
“We will not move forward until that decision occurs,” she said in an email to the Lakes District News. She also stressed that the company has engaged in dialogue with the regional district since planning began in 2012, and said that it will participate in public consultations.
“We have held numerous public open houses, presentations and meetings to discuss the project in the community,” said Benson, adding that the company began sharing its plans for the work camps with the regional district in 2015.
LNG Canada has indicated it could make a final investment decision later this year, while TransCanada has said that construction in the Tchesinkut Lake area could start as early as January 2020 provided a final investment decision is made.
