"Enbridge holds open house on Line 10 project"

NEW CREDIT - On Wednesday, November 5, community members were invited to an open house held at the New Credit Community Hall by Enbridge in regards to the Line 10 Westover Segment Replacement Project.

The Line 10 Project hopes to begin a replacement process of 35 km of existing pipeline to help move the same volume of product while using less energy. Line 10 itself, is a 143-kilometre export pipeline that carries oil from Hamilton, Ontario to West Seneca located in Buffalo, New York. From there it is transported via the Kiantone Pipeline owned by the United Refining Company to Warren, Pennsylvania, where it is refined into gasoline, diesel, propane, and other petroleum products.

"The pipeline will not disrupt New Credit in any way, we're just building a new line to be used instead of the line made in 1962. So it will be about nine metres away from the old one. We just wanted this open house to offer answers in case any questions come about," said construction and engineering representative Nathan Webbers.

In regards to public protest against the pipeline replacement, Webbers explained that the old pipeline will not be removed to help limit disturbance to the surrounding area.

"We haven't had a lot of outcry actually, most of the landowners are for it as they've already lived with the pipelines," said Webbers.

The Consultation and Project Schedule hopes to work from June 2015 until it's completion in September of 2018, with actual pipeline construction after receiving National Energy Board (NEB) approval occurring in the "third quarter" of 2017.

Within an informational booklet, Enbridge explained that the replacement pipe will be used to replace a 50 year old 12 inch pipe, and construction will follow "rigorous pipeline rules."

"By replacing this segment of Line 10 rather than applying a continual number of small fixes, we will minimize overall disturbance to landowners along the right-of-way, address ongoing maintenance requirements and make a safe pipeline safer," reads the booklet.

But, information published by the Polaris Institute approximated over 800 oil spills occurred over the course of eleven years, from 1999 to 2010 on Enbridge pipelines, resulting in over 160,000 barrels of crude oil released into the environment. As well, a published report from CTV W5 Investigation in February of 2014 explained that in regards to Line 9, some of the spills go under the radar as well.

"An aging Enbridge pipeline that runs across Ontario has had at least 35 spills - far more than reported to federal regulators but many municipalities along its route have never been informed of the incidents, a CTV W5 investigation reveals. The National Energy Board, which regulates pipelines in Canada, has records of seven spills, while Enbridge told the investigative program there had been 13."

Although Enbridge offers enough information in regards to the safety procedures created, there is no given information in regards to how the safety procedures are enforced.