When it comes to delays of its ambitious pipeline projects, TransCanada Corp. can’t catch a break.
The Calgary, Alberta-based company is best known in the U.S. for its much-delayed Keystone XL Pipeline. However, TransCanada recently announced it would alter another major planned undertaking—the Energy East Pipeline project across Canada—due to environmental concerns over the beluga whale population in the Saint Lawrence Estuary, near Energy East’s planned marine and associated tank terminals at Cacouna, Québec.
The Energy East project is a planned crude oil pipeline of about 2,860 miles from Alberta and Saskatchewan to refineries in eastern Canada, with a transport capacity of 1.1 million barrels per day. The project will involve conversion of an existing natural gas pipeline for oil transport and construction of new pipelines in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Eastern Ontario, Québec and New Brunswick to link up with the converted pipe.
In November, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada recommended the beluga whales in the estuary be reclassified as an endangered species, at which point TransCanada immediately halted its work at Cacouna. In April, the company announced it would officially not build the planned terminal and tanks at Cacouna—not over any outside pressure from environmentalist groups, but as part of its commitment to environmental stewardship and community safety.
“We want Canadians to know that we have and will continue to listen,” said President and CEO Russ Girling. “Our goal has always been to strike a balance between TransCanada’s commitment to minimizing environmental impacts and the imperative to build modern infrastructure to transport the crude oil Canadians need and consume every day—and that is what we plan to do.”
In a statement, the company said it would review alternative terminal locations in Québec and amend its application with Canada’s National Energy Board by the fourth quarter. The adjustment will likely result in an in-service delay until 2020.
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