Thursday, November 15, 2007
Fort Howe Hotel
Claude MacKinnon, Co-Chair
Mike MacIntyre, Co-Chair
Horst Sauerteig
Al MacDougall
Midge Thompson
Christine Saumure
Susan Harris
Tammy Calvin
Gordon Dalzell
David Peterson, NB Environment and project Compliance Officer
Regrets:
Carmel McCaig, Brian Fitzpatrick and Ellen Murphy
Guests:
Pete Adams and Peter Seheult – HDD, Road Crossings and Construction
Ken Hall – Chief Inspector, Urban
The agenda was accepted as presented
The minutes were accepted without changes.
One action item remains: cards for BPSJ CLC members to hand out. Susan Harris to try to get response by December ’07 or January ‘08 meeting.
Susan Harris updated the committee regarding the possibility of a request to Saint John Common Council, indicating that feedback from the open houses and conversations with citizens, and information from Michels indicate that we will not ask Council for an exemption at this point. Depending on what transpires during the pilot hole drill, Brunswick Pipeline may talk to residents about moving the operation to a 24-hour project, but only after Brunswick Pipeline sees how work is progressing and after residents have experienced the HDD for themselves. Horst Sauerteig, Claude MacKinnon and Christine Saumure informed the committee of their observations and experience at the Halifax harbour HDD drill site with noise levels in the immediate vicinity of the rig vs. the noise levels away from the rig. It was noted that with only sound mats for noise mitigation on the Halifax side, the 100 dB reading at the rig was reduced to 50dB up the hill and across the street at the townhouses.
Questions:
Q1 - Will we reach 55 dB?
A1 – that is the goal. Additional mitigation will be used to reach 55 if the tent and planned sound mitigation are found to be less effective than expected.
Q2 – Will Brunswick have to drill twice as long because of the difference in rock? (i.e., in Halifax – rock is shale and soft rock, but Saint John is granite and diolyte).
A2 – Not necessarily. The additional length that must be drilled will also have an impact on the duration of the drill.
Q3 – Will wind and wind direction affect the noise?
A3 – It is possible that wind will have an impact. Mike MacIntyre said he would check with Michels about their experience.
Mike MacIntyre and Susan Harris updated the committee on status of construction, the NEB’s information requests regarding the Environmental Protection Plan, and areas approved for clearing.
A newspaper report had indicated that 40% of the route had been objected to. In fact, what had been said to the reporter was that approximately 60% of the route had been approved for construction by the NEB. Sections of the route are approved by “sheets,” the map pages in the detailed route Plans, Profiles and Books of Reference (PPBoR) that have been filed with the NEB and displayed to the public.
It was noted that Brunswick Pipeline has since requested approval of another 15 sheets from the PPBoR. This is similar to how the NEB has done approvals in the past. The NEB is the oversight agency responsible to protect citizens and communities, and this is how they manage that responsibility.
Ken Hall, Chief Inspector-Urban area, and Bill Hodgson, Construction Superintendent with Louisbourg Pipelines, were introduced to the committee. Pete Adams, Construction Supervisor, and Peter Seheult, Construction Engineer, outlined how construction is accomplished from clearing to initial clean-up. A variety of inspectors work on the project. All have responsibility for safety procedures and for environmental awareness, but Environment Inspectors are the ones who know the details of the EPP and what mitigation or type of work is required in what type of area.
Easement overlap areas allow crews to need to clear only approximately 15 or 16 metres, which reduces the pipeline’s impact (or, footprint) on the environment.
Delivery of the pipe will begin in January, and should be completed by mid-March. A pipe train (45-55 cars), dedicated to transportation of the pipe sections, will begin to arrive in mid-January. There are three off-loading sites for the pipe: Maritime Paper in west Saint John, Shaw Brick on Rothesay Avenue and the old CP rail yard in McAdam. Pipe will be distributed by experienced pipe haulers to storage areas at the McAllister Industrial Park, work yard in west Saint John and the Pennfield airport. Delivery has been discussed with City police, and routes have already been established. The distribution will be arranged to minimize the impact on traffic flows. There will be one truck dedicated to signers and traffic controllers.
Pipe section delivery to the RoW will be accomplished using the RoW as access or by offloading from a truck off the side of the road depending on the location.
In east Saint John, trucks and equipment will use the new road rather than the Red Head Road.
Q – What will happen if this winter does not produce a “freeze”? If the ground is wet, an assessment will be made about how much ground to work.
Q – On a shared right-of-way (RoW), do you still have to level the work area? Yes, but only the area. The contours of the land aren’t necessarily modified. Generally, the pipe will be bent to match the contours of the land itself.
Q – Will the road created on the RoW for construction be maintained over time? No, the road will be removed after construction is over.
Q – How long will a road bore take on an average 66 foot wide roadway? Approximately 3-4 days to drill if in done in rock. The flattest side of the road will be used for the drill, and the steeper side used only to receive the pipe pulled through the hole.
A discussion ensued about how the road at Boars Head/Millidge Avenue would be handled. The road from Millidge Avenue to about the south-west curb lane of Boars Head Road would be bored, and the south-west curb lane would be dug to accommodate the turn required to go around the Saint John Energy transformer station and to then continue toward Pokiok.
There will be road crossings at 23 city-owned roads. The Brunswick Pipeline will be the lowest buried utility, and will be typically 1.0 metre and not less than 0.6 metres below the next highest underground service. The “locate service” protocols will be followed. The intention is to minimize traffic impacts. Emergency vehicles will be accommodated if they need to get through a cut section of road.
Safety on Site/Injuries have been planned for. In the rural areas, helicopter landing locations have been identified, and Brunswick Pipeline has contracted with private ambulances to be on site. Traffic plans are in place and GPS technology will be employed in identifying an exact location if an incident does happen. Requirements for personal protective equipment (PPE) are established for crews and for visitors to any part of the RoW, there is a daily orientation at the work trailers on King William Road, visitors must check in and receive orientation, and inspectors and foremen hold tailgate meetings at all construction sites daily to discuss specific considerations at a particular location.
In Saint John, use will be made of 911 and existing ambulance services, etc.
Q – How much risk do exhaust fumes from construction vehicles pose to workers? Large construction equipment have higher stacks (10 feet or more) to ensure that exhaust fumes do not impact personnel on the ground or in trenches. In smaller vehicles, a higher stack will be installed.
Blasting may begin before the Christmas break depending on approvals from the NEB. The blasting foreseen will be on the west side of the St. John River in preparation of levelling the land for the HDD equipment and noise mitigation tent and equipment.
Storage of explosives will be done according to regulation (federal, provincial and city for permits). For security reasons, the storage site will be secret, though trucks transporting explosives to a job site must be marked. Construction security plan are nearing completion, and will be submitted to the NEB in early January 2008. There will be security staff on site where any vehicles are stored and after hours at the work trailers on King William Road.
i. A question was raised about the Terms of Reference document, and the role of committee members. It was agreed by members that the committee is to provide questions, insight and feedback from the community to Brunswick Pipeline, and to forward concerns and complaints to Brunswick Pipeline for action. Brunswick Pipeline will deal with the item with the citizen directly, and will report back to the SJCLC member who brought the item forward. Then, at the next meeting, Brunswick Pipeline would report back on complaints dealt with from the community. This will keep the SJCLC member in the loop without making him or her responsible for the outcome.
It was stressed the liability for the project – and therefore handling of complaints – rests with Brunswick Pipeline, not the committee members. In case members receive calls from neighbours that are of an emergency nature, the caller should be directed to call 911. Technical questions should be addressed by the appropriate project person, and not a committee member.
ii. Change of name of Committee: It was suggested and agreed that the name of the committee should have “Brunswick Pipeline” in it.
iii. It was requested that the meetings begin at 6 p.m., with a light supper, in an attempt to finish the meetings and be home by 9 p.m.
iv. It was suggested that the City of Saint John should have representation on the committee. This will be discussed with the City.
v. Storage solutions for committee documents and handouts. Committee members will advise of their preferences for binders, expanding folders, etc. for the next meeting.
Thursday, December 13, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Fort Howe Hotel
Thursday, January 17, 2008, 6:00 p.m., Fort Howe Hotel
Download Minutes (PDF, 52 Kb)