FortisBC has chosen the Mount Mulligan site as the preferred compressor station location for its proposed Eagle Mountain-Woodfibre LNG pipeline expansion.
Fortis BC representatives presented the natural gas compressor station location to council at the committee of whole on Tuesday.
Originally, two preferred options were submitted to the provincial Environmental Assessment Office: one in the Squamish industrial park and one at the base of Mount Mulligan, which is 1.8 kilometres east of the Valleycliffe neighbourhood at about 1,400 feet of elevation.
On May 3, Fortis withdrew the option of locating the compressor station in the industrial park, according to Cynthia Des Brisay, FortisBC vice-president of energy supply and resource development.
The change is a result of Squamish Nation and the general public concerns over the industrial park location, Des Brisay said.
“There were a number of concerns around whether that is the best use of the land in the industrial park as well as the proximity to residential areas and other things,” Des Brisay said. The Squamish Nation also wanted the compressor further away from its members, she added.
The Mount Mulligan site is more remote and avoids visible impact, according to Des Brisay.
Because of the location, the Mount Mulligan compressor station will be natural gas-powered, while the industrial park location was to be electric-powered.
FortisBC has also revised its pipeline route plan to avoid the Wilderness Management Area in the Squamish Estuary.
FortisBC has now asked the Environmental Assessment Office to restart the review by the Environmental Assessment oOfice, Des Brisay said.
FortisBC originally filed for an environmental certificate in January of 2015. In June of 2015, after the Squamish Nation had released its 25 conditions, FortisBC suspended consideration of its application in order to address concerns outlined by the Nation.
A representative for the Squamish Nation said negotiations with FortisBC continue.
Several people at the meeting spoke passionately against the Mount Mulligan location citing reasons that included noise, water, greenhouse gas (GHG) and other emission concerns.
“Noise concerns are absolutely a really big issue, and I would really like to see that is taken into consideration and that every effort is made to mitigate noise impacts even to the extent of – are their any other possible sites to put this?” said Tracey Saxby, a My Sea to Sky member and resident of Valleycliffe. “Have you taken into account the cumulative impacts of noise? It is fine to say it is just a whisper, but when you have a room full of people whispering, that is really noisy.”
Saxby also spoke to a concern about nitric oxides and air pollution from both the compressor station and the Woodfibre LNG facility. Society pays for the pollution in terms of health-care costs and the results of climate change, she said.
“I have been doing research on this and starting to tally up numbers,” Saxby said. “If you tally up the total air pollution from Woodfibre LNG and from the FortisBC pipeline emissions, it works out to about $20 million per year. That is a cost that is borne by society. So when you are talking about the benefits of taxes or anything else you really have to take into account what are the externalities that these industries are not paying for.”
According to FortisBC, the noise will be at about 23 dBA for the residents closest to the site, or about the level of a whisper. FortisBC also contends in its addendum to its application to the EAO that with changes from its original proposal, there is a reduction in proposed GHGs due to cancelling an electrical transmission line and substation construction that was related to the Squamish compressor station and the removal of the Port Mellon compressor station upgrade.
The EAO should have a report to send to the provincial ministers in June, according to FortisBC.
