Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/661612
A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 1 6 www.resourceworld.com 57 the provincial government and is part of the traditional aboriginal territory of the Kitselas and Haisla First Nations. With a dialogue that started in February 2015, they have developed a Memorandum of Understanding that sets the stage for an eventual Impact Benefits Agreement and confirms the Kitselas can participate in the company's environmental investigations. "[It] also provides that the Kitselas will be able to have the appropriate personnel to review the development at every stage of the process, and to help us continue our relationship in an ongoing process," said Benoit. The company expects to soon begin formal discussions with neighbouring First Nations, the Haisla, the Lax Kw'alaams, the Metlakatla and the Kisumkalum. "We fully understand that we must first have the free prior and informed consent of the First Nations, who are the title-holders and are affected by our project. We sup- port the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We will not be going anywhere unless we are welcome." The report said construction could start as early as 2018 at the Dubose Flats site, 30 km north of Kitimat. About 3,500 construction jobs are forecast over a two- year period, and 1,000 full-time refinery positions. "The main components of the project will include a new bitumen oil refinery constructed from about 26 modules that will be manufactured and shipped via heavy-lift vessels or barges from Asia," the report said. The goal is to begin exports by 2022, though it will likely take until 2024 to pro- cess 200,000 barrels a day of bitumen and achieve full production of diesel, gasoline, jet fuel and butane. When it's operational, three or four trains, each with 120 railcars filled with neatbit, will run daily on CN's rail lines. Plans call for huge refinery modules to arrive in Canada via the Douglas Channel. But Pacific Future Energy would enlist other firms and First Nations to build two pipelines to an export site at Portland Inlet, about 120 km northwest of Kitimat. An estimated $1 billion will be needed to construct the pipelines and another $1 bil- lion for the export terminal, which will be built by another proponent. "We feel that it's an area that is safer for tanker traffic, stays away from sensi- tive fishing zones, and it's one where we feel social license can be obtained," said Benoit. "It stays away from Haida, it stays away from Douglas Channel and it stays away from the Skeena [River]. So we would support a partner who has the same values as us, and we believe that location serves that." The refinery would incorporate cleaner technology, including using wood-waste biomass to help generate electricity. During the production process, petroleum coke would be eliminated as a byproduct. The goal is to keep emissions of carbon dioxide to a minimum. "It's safe. It's a near solid. It doesn't flow," said Benoit. "If there were an accident the material would not flow very easily. It would gel up very quickly. The cleanup as a result of this would be quite simple: You'd just bring in a backhoe and just put the neatbit into the back of a truck." "It's a very safe means of transporting a product and it's not dangerous to people or to the environment. It's not classified as a dangerous good, so for transportation you don't even have to have warning signs on the railroad cars." The Project Description went to the federal and provincial agencies in January. The company expects to hear what will be required for the environmental impact assessment in the next few months, and then will seek public input. They could have their permit by late 2017 or early 2018. PFE wants to gain an edge over rival plans, notably one by newspaper pub- lisher, David Black, and his Kitimat Clean refinery venture, also planned for the Dubose Flats site. Meanwhile, Eagle Spirit Energy wants to upgrade bitumen either in Alberta or northeast BC before piping the material to the West Coast for export. n