VANCOUVER – A new report on the Kinder Morgan Pipeline expansion is questioning the company’s claims on the project.
The study, conducted by Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Public Policy Research and The Goodman Group Ltd., suggests the company is overplaying the economic benefits and downplaying the costs of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion that has been the subject of protests and court action.
“We conclude that the benefits are small and have been substantially overstated by Kinder Morgan,” says Ian Goodman, president of the Goodman Group. “Moreover, British Columbia is not getting its fair share of the benefits.”
The authors say about 12,000 person years of employment will be created, not the 36,000 the company claims. This does not mean 12,000 or 36,000 jobs, but rather the amount of hours done by a person each year on a specific job.
Kinder Morgan has said the pipeline expansion will result in 2,000 spin-off jobs, but the new report estimates only 800.
Brigid Rowan, a senior energy economist with the Goodman Group, adds that their research indicates that Kinder Morgan has also underestimated the risks associated with the Trans Mountain pipeline.
The company has estimated the costs associated with a possible spill at $100 to $300 million. Rowan says the cost of a worse-case scenario could be as high as $5 billion.
“Putting it all together, the benefits are not as good as we’ve been told, but the costs are much worse,” says Rowan.
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