Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Silver King Restaurant, 836 Main Street, Blacks Harbour
Present for the meeting were:
- Roger Burton, Brunswick Pipeline Co-chair
- Peter Fenety, Community Co-chair
- Susan Harris, Brunswick Pipeline Community Relations Manager
- Kathryn Foster
- Peggy Thompson
- Burton Stewart
- David Peterson
Guest: Tara Lakeman, Environmental Lead, Brunswick Pipeline
1. Review of Agenda
The agenda was accepted as presented.
2. Review of Minutes from September 10, 2008 meeting
It was noted that Lyman Spear’s name is spelled incorrectly. The Minutes of the September 10, 2008 meeting were accepted with the correction of spelling.
3. Action Items
All actionable items are completed and the list is up to date. Canaport is still not offering tours to the public.
4. Project Progress Report
Roger Burton provided a construction progress update. Currently, 65% of the work in the rural area is complete. Progress was good in September though acid rock removal reduced productivity. Once that section was complete, progress improved. Grading and ditching are complete up to the area of Spruce Lake. There are two major river crossings remaining: Bonny River and Atkinson Brook.
Testing of the pipe section pulled under the St. John River has been completed with no problems indicated. Since the pull-through is now deemed a success, a request has been filed with the NEB to cancel the scheduled December 9, 2008 wet crossing hearing.
In the urban area, grading and ditching are expected to be complete by the end of October. Hydrostatic testing should begin in November, along with internal testing using a caliper tool to examine for ovalities and dents. Full construction is expected to be complete by early December and we expect to introduce gas into the line before year-end. Indications are that Canaport will not be ready to provide gas until late 1st Quarter of 2009. As a result, gas will be introduced into the pipeline from the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline system, which will keep air and moisture out of the pipe.
Overall, the design life for the pipeline could be more than 50 years, with the planned ongoing inspection and maintenance program. The contract with Repsol is for a 25-year period at this point. The St. Croix River HDD crossing was completed in August, drilling from the US side. The pipe was welded on the Canadian side, and pulled through into Maine by the US M&NP crew.
5. Updates- Rockwood Park and SJCL Committees
The Rockwood Park Committee will meet again on October 9 for a walking tour of the pipeline right-of-way (RoW). After this event, the Committee will disband until the spring. Public responses to the new trail and boardwalk, and to the clean-up and restoration of the RoW have been positive.
The Saint John Community Liaison Committee will meet on Thursday, October 16, and then not again until February 2009.
A tour of a portion of the Charlotte County RoW was requested. Members were asked to email Susan with dates NOT suitable for them over the next two weeks, and she will arrange a tour date accordingly.
6. Presentation - River Crossings/Methods
Tara Lakeman, Brunswick Pipeline’s Environmental Lead, provided a presentation on wet and dry watercourse crossings. There are over 130 watercourse crossings overall on the project. Pipeline installation across watercourses is typically achieved through one of three methods: 1. dry crossings,
2. 2 wet crossings + 9 wet contingencies, and
3. 2 HDD crossings (St. John and St. Croix Rivers).
Dry watercourse crossings are achieved by damming the water’s flow upstream and diverting the water around the construction area using appropriately sized pumps and hoses and culverts to accommodate the anticipated flow over the duration of the crossing. Fish are removed from the work area and barriers installed to keep the fish away from the pumps, and silt screening is placed downstream to minimize muddying of the watercourse. As a precaution, absorbent booms are placed downstream to protect against possible hydraulic leaks. Once the water’s flow is successfully diverted, construction can be achieved in a dry watercourse bed.
Wet crossings are constructed directly through the un-diverted flow of the watercourse. This method of crossing will be used only when dry crossings are not practical; they may also have been used as a contingency if one of the two HDDs had been unsuccessful. As a general guideline, watercourses with a “wet width” greater than 10 m and whose water flow is greater than 1 m3/s are considered candidates for wet crossings.
Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) is a trenchless watercourse crossing method that is considered for large watercourses that must be crossed and/or in-stream activity is not preferred. It involves drilling a pilot hole of a certain diameter under a watercourse, then enlarging the hole using consecutively larger reams until a tunnel of sufficient size for the pipe is achieved. Independent survey verification tracking wires are used to monitor the position and depth of the drill during the pilot hole phase. Typically the completed tunnel is up to 50 percent larger than the diameter of the pipe. For example, 30”pipe was pulled through a 42” hole beneath the Saint John River.
7. Discussion – Possible suspension of meetings until spring/summer 2009
At this time, Susan asked committee members present their opinion of continuing bi-monthly meetings or suspending meetings until spring. After some debate, the Committee decided to hold one last meeting (December) in 2008 and then to disband until, tentatively, April 2009. Roger Burton will advise when clean-up will begin after next spring’s thaw.
The Committee agreed that the co-chairs would call a meeting if a pressing issue or request from the community was raised during the winter break. Copies of the Emergency Response Plan will be distributed to the Committee once it has been returned from the National Energy Board. As well, Monthly Progress Reports will be sent to committee members as they are filed, until the end of construction.
8. Other: Copies of the video documenting the pull-through under the St. John River will be provided once it has been copied.
9. Next Meeting: Wednesday, December 3, 2008.
Download Minutes (pdf)