Charlie:
The Irving Papers in Moncton or Saint John don't seem to print alternate points of view so here is one for the OTHER up and coming news source in New Brunswick. They have had 2 weeks now. So feel free to post it.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Griffin
To: Letters
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 8:22 PM
Subject: Alternate Route for LNG Line (Mike Griffin)
Open Letter to
Mr. Doug Bloom
President of Maritime & Northeast Pipeline
Mr. Bloom:
In response to your letter in the Feb. 25 edition of the Telegraph Journal I would like to offer this reply in hopes of opening up debate as to what is "A safe,efficient and environmentally responsible pipeline".
As to your reference of all the economic spinoffs for the City of Saint John I would like to point out that, "We have heard it all before".
The fact is that once this project is completed your company will benefit to the tune of billions of dollars in profits while the residents assume all the risks associated with a high pressure natural gas pipeline running through their city with no real, lasting and visible benefit to the man in the street.
If this pipeline is to come through and I have no doubt that it will, then the least your company can do is ensure that the line is
a. Run in an area of low residential density.
b. In a way that is of true economic benefit to the City.
c. Contribute to the environment.
I feel that all of these conditions can be met by following the route drawn as the "Least Desirable Route" on your maps that were presented at the Millidgeville open house several weeks ago. This route entails skirting Rockwood Park to the rear of Ashburn Lake. It then crosses the Kennebecasis River near Sand Point. From there it crosses the Kingston Peninsula to Hardings Point where it then crosses the Saint John River and from there on down through Musquash.
How is this route of any benefit to the City of Saint John and surrounding area? In several ways not evident at first glance.
First and foremost is the fact that the river crossings can be accomplished by bridging instead of directional drilling. This would facilitate ready access for maintenance of the gas line and provide much needed land linkages that have only been dreamed of for over a hundred years. The bridges would eliminate the need for 2 cable and 1 seasonal ferry system and give the entire area direct access to the City core. Land values would rocket. Commute times would be reduced. Reduced fuel consumption would result in lower automotive air pollution. Improved police, fire and ambulance services (saving lives). Access to clean air, sunshine and out of the fog belt. The addition of this land base would be a definite plus when trying to attract a younger highly trained work force who do not wish to live in an urban downtown core. People living in these areas woud be more inclined to partake and contribute financially to the night life in the downtown if access were a hop, skip and a jump instead of a long dragged out journey in the late evening hours to and from their homes.
As to the environmental obstacles Mr. McClelland spoke of in the Musquash area. I trust that M&NE will maintain their high standards as to the "pipeline constructiuon and right-of-way restoration". As to your already having a pipeline running through the City, I say, "One is quite sufficient".
Yes there are those who don't want bridges but if Saint John is to grow they need access to that land base. Now would be the time to gain that access and reap its future rewards.
In closing I would like to pose the question. Is this route really about the good of Saint John or is it more a question of "For the good of M&NE stockholders?"
Michael Griffin
Rothesay, N.B.
3 comments:
You can bet they don't want that route because Art Irving Jr.'s new house in Drury Cove might be a tad too close for comfort!
Don't you know Saint John has been held back by the Irving, government and politicians and so called friends!
Steal from the taxpayers and give to the Billionaires who want to be Trillionaires.
Following is an article by John Steeves, a former Senior
Program Editor with CBC National Radio News,who is presently a
freelance writer living in Sussex, N.B.
It reviews the Orimulsion Fiasco and Coleson Cove
Last year the federal government gave J..D. Irving Ltd. some $55-million
to close down the Saint John Shipbuilding yard, one of the largest
and most technologically advanced shipyards in Canada.
(Note: It could be used to build Windmills, info on U.S. examples can be consulted)
This yard still contains its equipment, its services and highly skilled
workers are still available to build ships in this yard.
The problem is that as part of its deal with the government,
J..D. Irving agreed not to build ships at the facility for 20 years.
A dummy's guide to energy in New Brunswick:
If you're the Irvings, you make your profit at home in New Brunswick and
spend it somewhere else!
Why spend it at home? It's not as if New Brunswickers need jobs.
In the field of New Brunswick energy policy, it's more and more difficult to separate
the good guys (if there are any) from the villains.
Take the case of the snafu involving the giant Coleson Cove
electrical generating plant, just west of Saint John.
Coleson Cove was originally designed to burn Bunker C industrial grade petroleum.
The main supplier of the Bunker C was Irving Oil.
Always in the search for cheaper ways to provide electricity to New Brunswickers,
the good folks at NB Power came up with a plan. They spent millions of dollars
refurbishing Coleson Cove with a new fuel supply in mind.
Instead of using expensive Bunker C, the redesigned Coleson Cove
would use a low-grade fuel called orimulsion, a fuel available only in Venezuela.
And while it's probable the orimulsion would still be delivered to New Brunswick in Irving-owned ships, Irving Oil would no longer be the actual supplier. NB Power officials personally went to Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, to work out the details of the supply contract.
Everything seemed idyllic until the refurbishment was almost complete.
Suddenly, Venezuela balked, saying there was no contract and the South American nation had no intention of supplying orimulsion to the New Brunswick power utility.
NB Power responded with threats of a billion dollar lawsuit, saying that, even without a signature, the deal was legally valid. NB Power also argued that a favourable court decision would be enforceable in the United States because Venezuelan assets, such as those owned by CITGO Corporation, could be seized.
More recently, NB Power realized that throwing more money into legal bills makes little sense and the Crown Corporation quietly dropped the suit.
So Venezuela seems to be the villain in the piece for not honouring the verbal deal. And in the scenario so far, NB Power seems to have naïvely based its plans on an unsigned contract.
Then, earlier this month, Irving Oil came back on the scene, playing the role of the “guy in the white hat.” Irving implied that it can supply Coleson Cove with a fuel that will, in fact, be cheaper than orimulsion. No details of what this fuel would be were released.
Everything would have fallen into place… bad Venezuela, naïve power corporation and good Irvings… except for a news release issued earlier this month by Irving Oil in the United States.
The release explains that Irving Oil and Venezuela are, in fact, business partners. On February 1, Irving purchased 55 per cent of the ownership of the marine terminal at South Portland, Maine from Venezuelan interests. The other 45 per cent of the terminal is still owned by the Venezuelan-controlled CITGO group.
This deal south of the border has led to some local speculation that the mystery fuel Irving can now supply is, in fact, a mixture of orimulsion from Venezuela and waste sludge from Irving's giant refinery in Saint John. After all, even though the Venezuelans were unwilling to honour a verbal contract with NB Power, they might be willing to supply the same product to Irving, a long-time buyer of that nation's petroleum and now a partner at the terminal in Maine.
Whatever the case, it raises the question of whether the Irvings are wearing the “white hats” after all.
There's another interesting feature to the news release.
For instance, it mentions that Irving terminals “are supplied by a modern fleet of double-hulled tankers including the MT New England 2006, the MT Great Eastern 2005, the MT Acadian 2005, the MT Nor'easter 2005 and the MT Irving Canada 1981.”
The four ships constructed in 2005 and 2006 are apparently “sister ships.” Only one, the Acadian, is registered with Transport Canada at the Port of Saint John. (At it turns out, all four are owned by a Dutch company, VROON, and are under permanent lease to Irving Oil. And, while the Acadian is registered in Canada, the other three carry the flag of the Marshall Islands, in the south Pacific). All four ships were built at the Hyundai dry dock, in South Korea.
So, whether technically owned by VROON or by Irving, these are Irving ships.
But wait a minute!
The Irvings just collected $55-million from the federal government as compensation for shutting down its own shipbuilding facilities in Saint John. If the company needed ships, why didn't they build them at home? After all, it's not because the ships were too large for the Saint John facility. The same Transport Canada data indicates that the Irving Canada has built such a ship in 1981 in Saint John even though that ship is slightly larger than the newer vessels.
In response to that question, one Irving apologist told me that the answer is simple: There was no way the ships could be built in Saint John as cheaply as in Korea.
So it was good business. Make your profit at home in New Brunswick and spend it somewhere else! Why spend it at home? It's not as if New Brunswickers need jobs. Or that the Irvings feel some sort of responsibility as good corporate citizens to buy locally.
There is another little interesting tidbit from several years ago.
If you remember, several years ago when the refit for orimulsion was being worked out.
A pipeline was being built from Irving's Canaport to Coleson Cove.
The pipeline was built and is owned by Irvings, yet the expropriations of the land was carried out by NB Power.
Now, if you'll recall, Irvings are supposed to be 'good business people' and just 'very competitive'. Well, in the BUSINESS world, when a private company wants to buy your land, you negotiate a price with them. Instead, they 'got in bed' with NB Power and the province paid $1500 an acre to everyone, and an eviction notice to those who wouldn't sell.
In the business world, you don't HAVE to sell, but when the govenrment gets involved, if you don't sell, they kick you out.
So now we have the government doing Irvings dirty work for them. Irving now will own the fuel source, AND the pipeline. How much would you like to bet that Irving companies will be getting much lower energy bills in the future!
Hard to believe isn't it.
MORE reading material for the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_phase-out
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