Canada expands review of proposed BC grassroots refinery project

Robert Brelsford
Downstream Technology Editor

The Canadian government has called for the creation of an independent review panel to evaluate the environmental assessment (EA) for Kitimat Clean Ltd.'s Kitimat Clean Refinery Project (KCRP), a proposed grassroots facility to be built about 13 km north of Kitimat, BC (OGJ Online, Aug. 16, 2016).

Canada's ministry of environment and climate change (MECC), decided on Sept. 9 to refer KCRP's EA to a review panel after considering public concerns regarding the project's potential to cause significant adverse environmental effects, the office of the MECC and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) said in a joint release.

Alongside MECC's decision, CEAA said it also will make funding available to assist eligible individuals of the public and indigenous groups to participate in the review panel's environmental assessment in several ways, including reviewing and providing comments on the review panel terms of reference and the environmental impact statement; preparing for and participating in future public hearings; and commenting on potential conditions that would be required if KCRP is allowed to proceed.

Funding also would be allocated to enable indigenous groups to participate in consultation activities following the submission of the panel's report, CEAA said.

Catherine McKenna, minister of MECC, has set timelines for the project's environmental assessment as follows:

• Prepanel phase, or the timeline for establishing the review panel: 90 days from the project referral date.

• Panel phase, or the timeline for the review panel to submit its report to MECC: 480 days from the date of the review panel's establishment.

• Post-panel phase, or the timeline for the minister of MECC to issue a decision statement on the review panel's report: 150 days from the date of the review panel report's submission.

The above timelines do not include the time it takes Kitimat Clean to complete its work or gather information required for the environmental assessment, CEAA added.

Under its current proposal, Kitimat Clean plans to build and subsequently decommission the following KCRP components upon conclusion of the project's 50-year lifespan:

• A grassroots refinery capable of processing 400,000 b/d of bitumen to produce 460,000 b/d of finished fuels.

• A bitumen-receiving facility, including a rail yard and bitumen offloading site.

• A tank farm containing 54 tanks of various capacity.

• A 23-km fuel-delivery pipeline corridor consisting of three 18-in. pipelines.

• A marine terminal facility for loading refined products on very large crude carrier tankers for export.

While Kitimat Clean anticipated bringing KCRP on stream in 2024, MECC's recent requirement for the 16-month review panel process likely will delay project startup by at least as many months.