Terasen Pipelines Inc. says it’s confident that it will receive regulatory approval to expand its Trans Mountain line through Jasper National Park and in Alberta and B.C.’s Mount Robson Provincial Park.

In its recently released Trans Mountain expansion (TMX) proposal, Calgary-based Terasen, a division of Terasen Inc. of Vancouver, said it is aware of the challenges of looping Trans Mountain through both Jasper and Mount Robson. The TMX is designed to be a staged expansion of the company’s existing 1,150-kilometre oil and gas pipeline between Edmonton and Burnaby, B.C. The expansion entails looping Trans Mountain’s existing 60-centimetre pipeline with new 76-cm pipe to create a dual pipeline system.

“One of the advantages that we have is that we already have a right of way through the parks,” said Philippe Reicher, manager of public affairs for Terasen Pipelines, adding the new line will follow the existing route.

Reicher said the company has had preliminary discussions with parks staff, environmental organizations including the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and other stakeholders in the Jasper and Mount Robson parks regions. Advanced routing and environmental planning is under way.

“Feedback has been favourable and we are confident that TMX will be permitted through the parks,” said Terasen’s proposal.

Reicher said some environmental studies, which are dependent on weather, will begin in the fall while others will commence in the spring.

Terasen’s proposal says the staged approach will give it more time to engage stakeholders and “work toward mutually beneficial solutions.”

TMX is designed to help get several new Alberta oilsands projects onstream and to U.S. and Asian markets as they are built over the next decade. The company plans to build each leg of the pipeline, at a cost of $600-$700 million per leg, in accordance with market demand.

“It will all depend on what the shipper and producers want to do,” said Reicher.

The stretch through the parks is part of the 300-kilometre first stage (TMX1) of the expansion between Edmonton and Valemount, B.C., where Mount Robson is located.

Known as the “anchor loop,” TMX1 is the stage on which the other two depend.

TMX1 is slated to be in service by 2008, but if the market dictates that both TMX1 and the second stage (TMX2) are needed at the same time, they’ll be in service by 2009. The third stage to Burnaby, or the north coast, will be in service by 2011.

East Kootenay Environmental Society spokesman Casey Brennan said the concern is not with the pipeline’s impact, because it will be built on an existing route. Instead, the concern is with the increased capacity it creates – and the demand for fulfilling that capacity.

“If we’re going to continue to erode wildlife areas, what’s the point of calling it a park?” said Brennan.

The company is also contemplating building a 50-cm eastern leg between Edmonton and Hardisty, with a capacity of 100,000 barrels per day and an estimated cost of $200 million.

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)