Abstract
The Vancouver Island pipeline will transport natural gas that is produced in northeast British Columbia to burner tips in southwest British Columbia. The project will contribute substantially to British Columbians: (i) economically, since it is British Columbia’s gas that is produced, processed and transported, and (ii) environmentally, since the gas will displace the use of fuel oil.
Although any pipeline project affects the environment to a degree, the selection of the pipeline material, the engineering design, and the construction plan all endeavour to minimize the impact. Use of materials such as concrete rock shield, a pipeline route that parallels existing roads and powerline corridors and use of construction practices such as narrow rights-of-way, water course crossing techniques using fluming or directional drilling, removal of silted water and revegetation, will all minimize environmental damage.
The pipeline designed to operate at 14,895 kPa, 590 km in length, crosses a variety of terrain conditions in areas ranging from sparsely to densely populated. The elevation varies from -425 m in Georgia Strait, an arm of the Pacific Ocean, to +1150 m on land. The subsea portion of the route represents 15% of the length of the project.
