AltaGas updates Prince Rupert city council on REEF project

Local Journalism Initiative
·3 min read

AltaGas representatives were quizzed over the potential impacts of the Ridley Island Energy Export Facility (REEF) project during a Prince Rupert committee of the whole meeting on March 25.

REEF’s construction manager Shawn Campbell and senior director of external affairs and Indigenous relations Jennifer Osmar updated council on the major Ridley Island project while also detailing what the project could be like for the community.

The liquid petroleum gas (LPG) project is being undertaken by the Calgary-based AltaGas and Dutch energy company Royal Vopak, with site clearing for the project nearly complete. A positive final investment decision is expected from AltaGas and Royal Vopak in the coming months.

Campbell assured council the project did have a nurse practitioner for the project’s construction phase amid continued concern surrounding the closures of the emergency room at the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital.

The potential dangers associated with such a high industry presence in the area and the strain an accident could have on an already-strained healthcare system was a concern for Coun. Barry Cunningham.

Campbell said the long-term health and safety plan for the LPG project is still being sorted out with Northern Health.

Coun. Teri Forster asked about potential concerns over the city’s firefighting resources being overwhelmed by the major project, and asked for clarity over the project’s reliance on the city’s firefighters.

Osmar pointed to AltaGas’s fire training investments in the presentation, which included support for a new Port Edward fire truck and training in multiple Northwest communities. She said there is also a “site-specific” emergency plan for the project.

Cunningham worried that the nature of the project — which he deemed a “borderline refinery” — would mean firefighters would need extra training paid for by taxpayers.

“That type of training and extra personnel is going to put a bit of a burden on our taxpayers to top up the quality and level of our firefighting department, which is already stretched because of the industrialization around here,” he said.

“Are you in any way going to be upping the ante as far as contributing to our fire department?” Cunningham asked.

Osmar said the company will meet quarterly with local communities to figure out issues and “find ways that we can make a difference and contribute where we can.”

She also commended Cunningham for his pressing queries.

“I’m just grateful that you’re asking us the hard questions — because you should be,” she said.

“We as industry recognize that it’s our responsibility to recognize what the pressure points are.”

Campbell confirmed there is a 150-person onsite work camp on Watson Island that is currently in operation and will continue into operation of the site.

Coun. Wade Niesh, standing in as chair in Mayor Herb Pond’s absence, lauded AltaGas — which does not benefit from the controversial provincial port tax cap — and their tax contributions.

“Thank you for your contribution to the taxes,” Niesh said, bringing some laughs to the meeting.

AltaGas said they have received letters of support from Mayor Herb Pond and Knut Bjorndal, mayor of Port Edward, where the company also gave an update to the community on March 13.

Seth Forward, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince Rupert Northern View

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Orca calf swims out of lagoon after being trapped for a month

    The Ehattesaht First Nation says a killer whale calf that had been trapped in a remote Vancouver Island lagoon for more than a month is now free after she swam out on her own early Friday morning. The nation said kʷiisaḥiʔis, or Brave Little Hunter, swam over the sandbar and out into open water during high tide around 2:30 a.m. PT. After a long night of feeding kʷiisaḥiʔis and watching the calf play in the lagoon, the nation said, a small group "stood as witnesses to watch her swim under the bri

  • B.C. man captures video of 2 bear cubs waking from winter slumber

    A winter walk paid off months later for a Prince George, B.C., family who captured footage of a family of bears waking up from hibernation. Serge Wolf lives on a rural property with his wife and two children in the north-central B.C. city, about 500 kilometres north of Vancouver. Wolf and his family were hiking through the woods in January when his four-year-old daughter noticed a hole in the ground. "I thought immediately, well, it has to be a den," Wolf said. His suspicions were confirmed when

  • 'There's no water': This duck hunter in Fort Smith, N.W.T., went out and found no ducks

    Earl Evans has been duck hunting in the springtime around Fort Smith, N.W.T., for 50 years. This past week, he and a friend went out to their usual spot, about 15 kilometres west of the community in the Slave River wetlands. And for the first time, Evans returned home from that hunt without a single duck. "We stopped and looked around and everything was just still, just dead," Evans said. "It felt like we were on the moon.""That's the most devastating feeling in the world for a person that likes

  • Ocean predator missing since 1800s appears in fishers’ net in Chile. Take a look

    The species has only been recorded a few times since 1887, researchers said.

  • Animal groups are urging tourists not to visit Wyoming after a man hit a wolf then took it to a bar

    CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — As Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming opens for the busy summer season, wildlife advocates are leading a call for a boycott of the conservative ranching state over laws that give people wide leeway to kill gray wolves with little oversight. The social media accounts of Wyoming's tourism agency are being flooded with comments urging people to steer clear of the Cowboy State amid accusations that a man struck a wolf with a snowmobile, taped its mouth shut and showed off the

  • Climber Dies in 1,000-Foot Fall From Denali Peak

    FacebookOne climber died and a second was seriously injured after falling 1,000 feet while ascending Mt. Johnson in Denali National Park and Preserve this week. The accident happened in Ruth Gorge, as the team—Robbi Mecus, 52, and her climbing partner—tackled a treacherous route known as “The Escalator,” on the night of April 25.“The approximately 5,000-foot route involves navigating a mix of steep rock, ice, and snow,” the parks service said. Another climbing party witnessed the roped pair fall

  • Millions in the Midwest under storm watches as Nebraska and Iowa communities reel from devastating tornadoes

    One day after destructive tornadoes plowed through Nebraska and Iowa, millions of people in parts of Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma were under tornado watches Saturday evening.

  • Worst wine harvest in 62 years blamed on ‘extreme’ weather and climate change

    A new report shows where has wine production dried up the most in Europe.

  • Storm threat builds as muggy warmth slides into southern Ontario

    Warmth starts to build in with the 2 rounds of thunderstorms expected in the next 24 hours across southern Ontario. More details with Meteorologist Melinda Singh.

  • Tornado outbreak leads to winter weather for Canadians

    The same system responsible for multiple tornadoes on Friday across Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa will run into arctic air over northern Ontario, resulting in winter weather from Winnipeg to Lake Superior

  • Muggy air, storm risk build in southern Ontario this weekend

    Temperatures and humidity are on the rise across southern Ontario as unsettled weather pushes into the region

  • River creature — with a white ‘collar’ — discovered as a new species in Colombia

    The aquatic animal has a “wide” mouth and see-through fins.

  • ‘Kitten season’ in Fresno: When baby cats are left to die – in water, dumpsters, plastic bags

    “We are trying desperately to get people to know that killing kittens doesn’t solve the problem.”

  • Weekend warmup brings rain, possible thunder into southern Ontario

    Warm-weather lovers are in for a little treat this weekend as above-seasonal temperatures build over southern Ontario, but it comes with a rainy cost

  • What you need to know to stay up-to-date on Alberta wildfires

    Poor internet connection? Access a low-bandwidth, accessible version of this story on CBC Lite.Wildfire season is well underway in Alberta, with some communities already being forced to evacuate and provincial government officials implementing fire restrictions.Last year marked a record wildfire year, burning more than 2.2 million hectares in Alberta. But drought helped several dozen fires survive throughout the winter and has left various regions even drier than a year ago, resulting in an earl

  • Aerial photos show wide devastation left by tornado in China's Guangzhou

    BEIJING (AP) — Aerial photos posted by Chinese state media on Sunday showed the wide devastation of a part of the southern city of Guangzhou after a tornado swept through the day before, killing five people, injuring dozens others and damaging over a hundred buildings. As businesses and residents began cleaning debris, the images showed block upon block of devastation in the hardest hit areas with a few clusters of buildings standing amid the destruction, a truck overturned on its side and cars

  • 'Lightning-Packed, Tornadic Supercell' Moves Over Nebraska

    Satellite imagery captured a “lightning-packed, tornadic supercell” moving over Nebraska on Friday, April 26, as weather officials warned of tornadoes moving through the Lincoln and Omaha metro areas.Tornado warnings were in effect for parts of southeastern and east-central Nebraska, with “ping-pong-ball-size hail” possible. Credit: CSU/CIRA & NOAA via Storyful

  • Scaly clawed creature found resting in rotten log at India forest. See the new species

    Researchers named the clawed animal after a mythological figure because of its half underground, half above ground lifestyle.

  • Technology can detect wildfires. Do humans still have to?

    After seven seasons working as a fire lookout — someone who watches for wildfires from a tower — near Peace River, Alta., Trina Moyles has witnessed some of the worst wildfire seasons Canada has seen. "It's especially stressful when communities are threatened by fires and you can visibly see the wall of fire advancing," said Moyles. She's a journalist, photographer and creative producer who has published a memoir about her experience there, titled Lookout. "It's a very helpless feeling, but all

  • Tornado threat continues after 4 injured, hundreds of homes damaged

    The multi-day tornado outbreak continues Saturday, with powerful storms expected from Texas to the Great Lakes. There is a tornado watch in effect for parts of six states, from Texas to Iowa into the late evening. A moderate risk -- level 4 out of 5 -- is in the outlook for parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri Saturday, with storms expected to flare up again in the afternoon and evening across a huge area of the country.