Questions & Answers

The proposed Energy East Pipeline project will convert 3,000 km of existing natural gas pipeline to crude oil service and will include the construction of 1,600 km of new pipeline. The Energy East Pipeline plans to run between Hardisty, Alta., to Saint John, N.B. The exact pipeline route will not be finalized until we have assessed and incorporated input from numerous stakeholders, including First Nation and Métis communities, landowners, local communities and provincial and federal governments.

In March 2014, TransCanada filed an official Project Description for the Energy East Pipeline with the National Energy Board (NEB) of Canada. Later this year, TransCanada will submit a formal application to the NEB that will include an environmental and socio-economic impact assessment of our project. These filings are the first steps in the formal regulatory process for our company to receive the necessary approvals to build and operate the $12-billion project that will allow eastern Canadian markets to access a less-expensive and more stable supply of crude oil from Western Canada.

Once all necessary regulatory approvals are received, we will start construction, with deliveries to Quebec targeted to be in service by 2018, and in late 2018 for New Brunswick.

You have questions on the project? Let’s talk.

TransCanada is committed to having an open and transparent engagement process with First Nation and Métis communities, landowners and members of the communities located along the pipeline’s pathway. This is why the Energy East team has already engaged with close to 500 communities, 155 First Nation and Métis communities and organizations, and more than 5,500 landowners in the six provinces the pipeline will go through.

We have held more than 80 open houses and participated in hundreds of public meetings to answer questions about the project and discuss important topics, such as water safety, pipeline integrity, economic benefits and job opportunities. These local events also help TransCanada gather crucial public feedback that will help guide our development plans.

We will hold more open houses in the months to come.  We encourage you to attend and ask questions about the project so we can provide information, follow up on concerns, and take your input into account.

Developing positive, long-term relationships with those who live along the Energy East Pipeline route is an essential part of our project, because we want to be a good neighbour and a trusted community partner.

A fundamental principle for TransCanada is the protection of the public and the environment from the effects of a spill. Safety drives our decisions – every single day. We invest hundreds of millions of dollars each year to maintain the integrity of our pipelines and ensure our 70,000-km network across North America functions as it is intended to.

Energy East Pipeline will use state-of-the-art technology, including heavier walled pipe under bodies of water, high-performance coatings, and erosion protection and drainage controls.  Shut-off valves will be installed at pump stations and at regular intervals along the pipeline between pump stations. Satellite technology will send information from multiple data points to our monitoring centre every five seconds. Should a drop in pressure happen, the shut-off valves would be remotely closed within minutes, shutting down the pipeline.

We will carry out regular “in-line” inspections, in which an instrumented device is run through the pipeline to create a map of pipeline wall-thickness and integrity. These are just a few of the safety measures we will implement. Along with these, the Energy East team will set up comprehensive Emergency Response Plans (ERP) that involve the placement of specialized equipment and trained field crews along the entire route, as well as regular training exercises.

Oil sands are a raw material made out of a mixture of sand, clay and water, saturated with a very dense form of petroleum technically referred to as bitumen. Oil sands bitumen has to be reduced in viscosity through the addition of a diluent so it can flow through a pipeline. Energy East will move many types of oil as determined and ordered by refineries. Although some of the oil will be derived from the oil sands, only oil is shipped. The sand is separated at the source. Raw bitumen will not be transported in the Energy East Pipeline.

So, is diluted bitumen (dilbit) corrosive to the pipeline? No. Several studies conducted by respected scientific research organizations, including U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Battelle Memorial Institute, Penspen Institute and Natural Resources Canada, have shown that dilbit behaves the same way as conventional crude oil and does not pose any additional risk when transported through  pipelines.

All crude oils transported by TransCanada must meet very strict specifications for water, sediment and other chemical content before they are allowed to go into a pipeline – and Energy East will be no exception.

We tend to think of oil as something we need only to fuel cars or planes, but we need oil for many other things. In fact, hundreds of everyday products are made from crude oil, including cosmetics, carpets, pantyhose, electronics and plastics, but also items essential to our health and well-being, such as heart valves, Aspirin, prescription glasses, soap and toothpaste. What do skis, a life jacket, a refrigerator, a pillow and soft contact lenses have in common? They are all based on petroleum, so it’s no wonder that Canadians consume about 2.3 million barrels of oil every day.

As part of the Energy East Pipeline project, TransCanada plans to convert to oil transportation a portion of an existing natural gas pipeline network called the Canadian Mainline. Repurposing pipelines is something TransCanada has already done successfully throughout its 60-year history. The most recent example is the conversion of 860 km of the Mainline for the Keystone Pipeline System, which has safely delivered more than 600 million barrels of crude oil to the United States since it began operating in July 2010.

As safety is an essential part of everything we do, the first step of the Mainline conversion will involve a thorough cleaning of the pipeline and inspections with high-resolution tools to identify potential issues. Once the integrity of the pipeline has been re-assessed, we will install electronic leak-detection systems that allow TransCanada to monitor pipeline operations 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from its high-tech control centre in Calgary.