Hearing set on Brunswick Pipeline plans -- The Quoddy Tides, Eastport, Maine

The National Energy Board (NEB) will hold a public hearing starting on Monday, November 6, to consider an application to construct the Brunswick Pipeline submitted by Emera Brunswick Pipeline Company Ltd. (EBPC). The public hearing will take place at the Hilton Saint John Trade and Convention Centre in Saint John. In May of this year, Emera Inc. announced plans for its full ownership investment in the proposed Brunswick Pipeline. An affiliate of Duke Energy will permit and construct the Brunswick Pipeline.

As outlined in its application, EBPC is planning the construction and operation of a 30-inch pipeline. Re-gassified liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be transported in Canada from the proposed Canaport LNG facility at Mispec Point near Saint John, currently under construction, on the proposed Brunswick Pipeline, to an interconnection with the Maritimes system at the U.S.-Canada border near St. Stephen. In May of this year Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline announced plans to expand its U.S. pipeline system to connect with the Canaport facility. Canaport LNG, a joint venture of Repsol (Spain) and Irving Oil Limited, has executed an agreement with Maritimes Northeast to transport re-gassified LNG in the United States on its existing pipeline system.

At present, the Brunswick Pipeline project route preferred by the involved parties is through Rockwood Park in Saint John along an existing corridor created decades ago for power lines. The corridor would need to be widened an additional 20-30 metres to accommodate the pipeline. Some Saint John residents believe Rockwood Park is being threatened by the proposal. The companies supporting the proposal maintain that the pipeline will have no negative impact at all, while those opposed believe the park route makes no sense at all.

The application is available for viewing at the St. Stephen Town Hall, the Common Clerk's Office, Saint John and the Emera Brunswick Pipeline company in Halifax.