An oil well pumpjack in Big Valley, Alberta. Alberta farmers are concerned about a proposal to shift jurisdiction of 23,500 kilometres of gas pipelines away from its Alberta regulatory body into the hands of the National Energy Board. (David Boily/AFP/Getty Images)
Some fear the change could limit how they tend their land and expose them to severe fines.
The plan will shift jurisdiction of 23,500 kilometres of gas pipelines away from its Alberta regulatory body into the hands of the National Energy Board (NEB).
Energy giant TransCanada Pipelines Limited (TCPL), which is extending its Nova gas transmission system beyond Alberta’s borders, has applied to the NEB for the change. The move would affect thousands of farmers.
Jim Ness, president of the Alberta Association of Pipeline Landowners (AAPL), says that under the Ottawa-based rules that are being called for, the existing provision guaranteeing that a farmer can recover legal costs if he gets into a dispute with a pipeline company will be eliminated.
“That was covered under provincial law but not under federal law,” says Ness. “We’re upset that the Alberta government did not defend that issue publicly to the [NEB] board.”
In addition, farmers would lose eligibility to receive ongoing annual payments in certain situations and would have to ask permission to drive farm equipment across easements and over pipelines that are buried on their own land, something that would pose a big problem for farmers, says Ness.
“It would divide our fields in a real nuisance manner if the farmer had to take special precautions to cross the pipes. To use an oil-patch term, it’s a giant adverse effect to have that regulation there.”
The way farmers will be dealt with if they violate regulations will also change, with the maximum penalty of a $5,000 fine jumping as high as $1 million, plus a five-year prison term.
Farmers will also need permission to cultivate deeper that 11.8 inches, despite the fact that “throughout Alberta there are soils that require deep ripping,” says Ness. Under current provincial regulations, farmers may dig as deep as 18 inches.
“A lot of the pipelines are so shallow that the companies are afraid the pipes will get torn up,” says Ness, a farmer/rancher and a licensed land agent who does consulting for landowners.
Bob McManus, spokesperson for the Alberta Department of Energy, says that while assumptions can’t be made about how the NEB will rule, TCPL in the past has not required the kind of notification for crossing pipelines or the cultivation depth restrictions that the farmers fear.
“We certainly agree that a measure of certainty around that would be a good thing and we’re willing to work with farmers and with industry to see that [past practices] continue,” he says.
McManus points out that there are already thousands of kilometers of federally regulated pipeline and the Nova gas transmission system crossing farms in the Foothills region of the province, both owned by TCPL.
“The interprovincial transmission system and the Nova gas transmission line are actually running on the same right of way and the farmers’ advocate in that area has not had a complaint to this time of there being a problem with farming practices different from one to the other,” he said.
In an effort to raise awareness of the proposed change, the AAPL and the Canadian Association of Energy Producing Landowner Associations started a campaign this week, launching a series of radio ads and sending 40,000 letters to farmers across the province.
Ness says the AAPL is also seeking annual payments to cover “a duty of care and a duty of liability and vigilance” that is automatically imposed on farmers who have pipelines on their land.
“A lot of us live right close to the pipes and we have to be constantly aware of it in our farming operations,” says Ness.
“We need to be rewarded for looking after the top of the ground. Farmers today are very, very important land stewards and we care about the environment. A lot of city people have no idea what it’s like to live with the pipes, they have no idea what we’re going through.”
