Rabaska : Environment


			Contact Us \| Media \| Links \| Français

Haut

REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

Decree 918-2007, October 24, 2007 concerning delivery of a certificate of authorization in favor of the Rabaska Limited Partnership to carry out the part of the abaska project relating to the construction of an LNG terminal in the City of Lévis

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF MINISTÈRE DU DÉVELOPPEMENT DURABLE, DE L'ENVIRONNEMENT ET DES PARCS

Rapport d'analyse environnementale (In French only)

JOINT REVIEW PANEL

Main Report
Appendices

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDY

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PROCESS

The Rabaska project has undergone environmental assessments by both Québec and the federal government. It is subject to the processs set out in the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) and the Regulation respecting the environmental impact assessment and review (R.R.Q., 1981, c. Q-2, r.9) adopted under Québec's Environmental Quality Act (EQA).

The Rabaska project underwent the following environmental assessment process:

Late April 2004	Project Notice The promoter submitted the project notice, triggering the environmental assessment process both at the federal and provincial levels. The government agencies concerned used this document to draw up directives that were then sent to the promoter for the impact study.
May 2004	Provincial Directive The directive issued by Québec's Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et des Parcs (MDDEP) in May 2004 set out the nature, reach, and scope of the impact study Rabaska was to carry out on the Rabaska project.
August—September 2004	Public hearings on the scope of the environmental assessment At the federal level, before directives are issued public hearings must first be held to determine the project scope for the purposes of environmental assessment and how this assessment is to be carried out. This step, which is not required at the provincial level, notably enables Environment Canada, upon the recommendation of the relevant authorities, to decide whether to proceed according to the indepth study process or the review panel process set out by CEAA. In a press release issued on January 20, 2005, the Honourable Stéphane Dion, Canada's then environment minister, announced his decision to have the project assessed by a review panel.
February—March 2005	Public Hearings and the Federal Directive The directive underwent public hearings before being finalized. Further to these hearings, the federal directive supplementing the provincial directive was issued in late March 2005.
January 2006	Submission of the Impact Study The impact study was submitted to MDDEP, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, and other relevant federal authorities on January 25, 2006. It was also published on the Rabaska website. This analysis is a valuable tool not only for assessing the project's environmental suitability, but also for integrating environmental considerations into all phases of project planning and development, from design to operation. This is particularly important for the technical studies on equipment location, facility design, site selection, choice of technologies, and environmental impact mitigation measures. The impact analysis considers all biophysical and human factors that could affect the project (e.g., earthquakes or extreme weather conditions) or be affected by the project, during both construction and operation.
February—September 2006	Compliance Analysis of the Impact Study Once submitted, the impact study was analyzed by the Canadian and Québec authorities to ascertain its compliance with the directives. At this stage, interested parties were invited to comment on study compliance to the federal authorities. During analysis, three rounds of questions from the public, the city of Lévis, and provincial and federal ministers were addressed to Rabaska. Rabaska responded to over 450 questions on a wide variety of topics. MDDEP issued a notice of acceptance for the impact study on September 21, 2006.
October—November 2006	Public Information and Consultations Period MDDEP tasked Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE) with holding a public information and consultations period from October 10 to November 24, 2006. During this period, MDDEP received 50 requests for public hearings. On October 19, BAPE was given the mandate to hold public hearings on the project. On October 23, the BAPE chair formed a committee tasked with examining the project; it was made up of commissioners from BAPE and a federal review panel, as per the Canada-Quebec Agreement on Environmental Assessment Cooperation signed in spring 2004.
December—February 2007	Public hearings The commission's mandate began on December 4, 2006. During the first round of public hearings, 14 sessions were held between December 6 and 15, 2006, in Québec City and Lévis. Throughout these sessions, the promoter and officials from various ministries and agencies responded to questions from the public and the commission. The second round of public hearings consisted of 20 sessions in Lévis and Saint-Pierre-de-L-Île-d'Orléans between January 29 and February 12, 2007, to enable participants to express their views on the project. By the end of the hearings, the commission had received a total of 699 briefs, as well as 15 oral presentations. In the words of commission chair Qussaï Samak, the hearings were "unprecedented in Quebec" given the heavy participation of people from Lévis, Beaumont, and Île-d'Orléans. The Rabaska hearings took more than 120 hours and totaled 26,000 pages of documents. The entire contents is available on the CEAA website.
March—May 2007	Inquiry and Public Hearing Report The joint commission then prepared its report. While doing so, it submitted a whole series of questions to the promoter and government officials. The public was also given the chance to ask further questions. At the end of the process, the commission submitted its inquiry and public hearing report to the federal and provincial environment ministers on May 30, 2007. The report was made public on July 5, 2007. The report's main findings are as follows: The risks associated with the project appear acceptable. The project is justified. It will have minimal impact on the environment and considerable economic benefits. It is right for Lévis. It is consistent with Québec's energy policy. Most of the Board's 34 recommendations and 20 opinions are further to analyses and measures already put forward by Rabaska. No recommendation poses a problem.
October 2007	Environmental review report and provincial decree Experts from MDDEP and a number of other ministries and agencies analyzed the project based on information provided by the promoter and information from the public hearings. They reached the following conclusions: "Given the anticipated environmental impacts, the attenuation measures set out in the impact study, and undertakings by the initiator, the project is acceptable from an environmental standpoint. It is therefore recommended that the government issue a certificate of authorization to the Rabaska limited partnership for construction of an LNG terminal in the City of Lévis." The LNG terminal's construction was approved by the Québec government on October 24, 2007. (Decree 918-2007).
Future steps	At the federal level, cabinet has yet to come to a decision. The relevant authorizations from Transport Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada can only be issued after cabinet has made a decision. Work can then only begin once Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et des Parcs has issued a certificate under Section 22 of the EQA. Authorization is also required from various other organizations.

OVERVIEW OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

The construction of the Rabaska LNG terminal and its subsequent operation are expected to have certain impacts, both on the human and biological environments. Most will be felt during the construction phase as they are directly related to site development. Generally speaking, these impacts will be temporary and limited to the construction phase. Others will be more permanent, given that the terminal site will not return to its original condition. After identifying all the expected impacts of terminal development, Rabaska designers have integrated mitigation measures to minimize the negative effects.

Extent of the impact

Once a project's potential overall impact on a given environmental component has been identified, we assess the impact the expected modifications to this component will have. Such evaluation is essentially based on the estimated value of the environmental component examined as well as the intensity, scope, and duration of the expected effects (positive or negative) on this component. These three features are aggregated into one comprehensive indicator - the extent of the environmental impact - which makes it possible to judge the project's overall foreseeable effects on a given environmental component. The extent of the impact is expressed according to five classes: Very high, high, average, low, or very low.

Impact on the Human Environment

During construction of the terminal, the biggest nuisances will have to do with the noise and vibrations produced by the trucks and heavy equipment circulating to and from the construction site, the dust lifted by these vehicles on the site, the various waste and refuse materials, and an increased amount of suspended matter in surface water, particularly while the terminal is being excavated and the pilings are being put in place to support the jetty. These effects will be largely mitigated by adhering to best construction practices and closely complying with the regulations that govern these activities in the industrial sector.

Although rated a "medium" level nuisance, heavy equipment traffic will be minimized through the use of a tunnel under Route 132. Similarly, construction of an access road by the City of Lévis between Route Lallemand close to Highway 20 and the construction site will considerably reduce the noise and vibrations caused by truck traffic on Route 132, the northern section of Route Lallemand, and Rue de l'Anse.

LNG terminal operations will generate the equivalent of approximately 146,000 tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) annually, less than 0.2% of Quebec emissions, the bulk of which will come from burning natural gas to vaporize the LNG. However, Rabaska believes that these emissions will be largely offset by increased use of natural gas, which because of lower, more stable prices, will displace other hydrocarbons such as heavy oil and coal, which produce more greenhouse gas and pollutants when burned. Natural gas is a clean fuel that produces lower GHG emissions and air contaminants compared to other fossil fuels.

The Rabaska LNG terminal will therefore help the governments of Québec, Ontario and Canada in their efforts to reduce GHG emissions in the atmosphere and thereby reach the objectives they committed to in the Kyoto Protocol, as the table below demonstrates.

(Click on image to zoom in)

* * *

The terminal will have a limited impact on the quality of life of residents. Various measures have been put in place for residents within a 1.5 kilometer radius of the future facility who are concerned about their properties losing value on account of Rabaska. Those who wish to move before or during construction or in the initial years of terminal operation will be fully reimbursed if the market value of their properties declines. Owners who sell after Rabaska has obtained all the required authorizations will also be reimbursed for property sale and purchase fees, as well as moving expenses. In addition, Rabaska has agreed to assume the cost of any increase in insurance premiums, however unlikely, that residents within this same radius may face due to the new terminal.

Rabaska's emissions of air contaminants—such as nitrogen dioxide (NO ₂ ), sulfur dioxide (SO ₂ ), carbon monoxide (CO), particulates (PM _2.5 ), ozone, and toxic organic compounds—will be minimal, and the effects on human health will be imperceptible. Measuring stations will be set up in the sector to enable air quality to be monitored: two stations from the start of construction and a third during terminal construction.

The black water produced on the site will be collected in a septic tank and then sent to a disposal field. Surface runoff will be collected in a network of drainage ditches that will direct it to a debris basin, and then once purified, to Saint-Claude Creek.

* * *

Noise from facility operations will be relatively limited and controlled at the source. Appropriate mitigation measures will be put into place to ensure compliance with all government requirements. During the construction phase, noisy work in the evening (between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.) will be limited to exceptional situations to avoid disturbing residents.

* * *

The project designers have paid very close attention to the terminal's visual impact on the landscape. Using scale computer and graphical simulations, they have been able to simulate the structures of the future LNG terminal on a site map in order to analyze the visual impact of the new facilities from a number of particularly representative vantage points in Lévis, Beaumont, and on Île d'Orléans.

The designers have incorporated numerous mitigation measures or suggested construction methods right into their design to appreciably reduce the negative visual impact of the project.

The two LNG tanks are probably the project components with the greatest visual impact. Project designers have therefore decided to excavate in order lower the base of the tanks by some ten meters, thereby reducing their visual impact on the surrounding area. Their shape has also been redesigned, making it possible to lower the structures an additional 10 meters. Furthermore, in addition to preserving the existing woods as much as possible, as they form a natural screen around the tanks, berms 12 meters high will be developed on the site, and will be reforested with some 15,000 trees.

Also of note is the decision to bury the cryogenic offloading pipes that run for over 1 kilometer between the jetty and terminal tanks. Partial reforestation of the shoreline, as well as landscaping, will also help reduce the visual impact of these transmission lines. Facility lighting will receive special architectural treatment in order to eliminate nuisances. Designers have reduced the height of streetlights and specified that reflectors be directed downward; lighting will be minimal or of varying intensity but sufficient to ensure the complete safety of site activities at all times.

Further to the BAPE recommendations and requests from MDDEP, Rabaska is currently working with a team of architects and engineeers to come up with mitigation measures for the port and river facilities, including the access road to the jetty.

* * *

Construction of the terminal could have had a major impact on local farming had all farming needed to be completely abandoned, but it is expected that some 75% of the land currently under cultivation will be returned to farming once construction is completed, considerably reducing the terminal's impact on agriculture.

* * *

The 60-odd tankers that dock at Rabaska each year will join the 2,500 existing commercial vessels, increasing shipping traffic on the river by approximately 2.5%. This increased traffic will be of only minor inconvenience to commercial shipping and will be efficiently managed by the traffic control mechanisms already in place. It will take ships 15 to 30 minutes to berth. During the 24 hours tankers are docked, they will in no way restrict commercial shipping. Experts therefore feel the terminal will have only a low impact on commercial fishing, and a very low impact on recreation and tourism activities such as boating.

Impact on the Biological Environment

The impact study has revealed that the impact on the biological environment will generally be minor and temporary. The biggest impact is related to construction of the jetty in the river and the diversion of the western portion of Saint-Claude Creek. Diverting the western branch of the Saint-Claude Creek will have an additional impact on the biological environment.

Diversion will result in habitat losses deemed medium for fish and minor for reptiles and amphibians. These losses will be offset by the relocation of the creek.

Environmental Impact of the Gas Pipeline

The impact study on the gas pipeline made it possible to plot the route with the least impact between Lévis and Saint-Nicolas and to assess and mitigate the negative impact associated with building and operating the gas pipeline. A host of constraints had to be taken into account, including Rabaska's commitment to avoid densely populated areas where possible and minimize crossings of waterways and existing infrastructures. This is why the route will follow existing public utility right-of-ways, insofar as possible.

(Click on image to zoom in)

From an environmental standpoint, steeply sloped areas, vulnerable groundwater bodies, major or sensitive wildlife habitats, maple stands, lands with a high potential for agricultural or forestry usage, woodlands with a high commercial value, and areas with a high archeological or heritage value had to be avoided.

Impacts associated with the pipeline will be felt mostly during the building phase, as the pipeline will cross farmland and wooded areas.

In certain locations, the gas pipeline will be built relatively close to isolated residences or buildings, mainly at road crossings. The selected route runs through two urban zones. The first is in the Pintendre industrial area, and the second, along the Chaudière River. In addition to the extra security and protection measures for surrounding properties, a variety of other measures will be in place for these more densely populated sectors, in order to minimize nuisances during construction, particularly in terms of dust, noise, and vibrations.

The excavation work will have an impact on cultivated land. However, arable land will be carefully protected and rehabilitated once the pipe is laid, thereby ensuring cultivated land is quickly returned to its original condition. In wooded areas, trees will have to be cut down to make way for the permanent right-of-way, which must remain accessible thereafter. As much as possible, the width of the deforested area will be kept to a minimum.

Small waterways will be crossed using the open trench method. As far as possible, work will be performed in dry conditions, thereby limiting sediment charge and the impact on aquatic life.

For the Etchemin, Chaudière, and Beaurivage rivers, there are two possible construction methods: open trench or directional drilling. Directional drilling is preferred over the open trench method because the latter entails dredging the river beds, thereby disturbing the fish habitat. Directional drilling minimizes the impact on local wildlife and its habitat because no work will need to be done on the river bed or river banks.

From a visual standpoint, since the pipeline is an underground linear infrastructure, it will create no subdividing barrier the way a railroad, road, or highway does. Moreover, it will create no major visual impact by altering the landscape the way high voltage lines do. The route will be visible primarily in wooded areas where right-of-ways must remain accessible.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN

Before even beginning construction on the LNG terminal, Rabaska will adopt a comprehensive environmental management plan. The goals of the plan are twofold: ascertain the accuracy of the environmental impact assessment and minimize the impacts of terminal construction and operation to the greatest extent possible.

Under the environmental management plan, steps will be taken prior to and during construction to see that all of Rabaska's environmental commitments to government authorities and the public are fully met. The plan will ensure that construction site waste is managed according to the principles of the 4Rs-D (reduction, reuse, recycling, recovery, and disposal). Appropriate measures will also be taken to deal with chemical products, fuel, and hazardous materials according to existing regulations. The same goes for the management of nuisances like dust, drainage water, street wash, noise, and lighting.

Once construction is completed and the facility in operation, the environmental management plan will shift its emphasis to LNG handling, air and water quality at the site and in the immediate area, and proper management of certain emissions. Special attention will be paid to noise control, monitoring plant cover and aquatic life in and along Saint-Claude Creek, and use of Rabaska land for agricultural purposes.

Once the construction phase begins, a complaint and incident management plan will be put in place. And lastly, a Watchdog Committee made up of community representatives will be set up, primarily to ensure that promoters meet their environmental commitments and obligations.

Every year, an annual environmental monitoring report will be produced and submitted to the Watchdog Committee and to government authorities.

REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF MINISTÈRE DU DÉVELOPPEMENT DURABLE, DE L'ENVIRONNEMENT ET DES PARCS

JOINT REVIEW PANEL

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDY

OTHER REFERENCE DOCUMENTS IN DECREE 918-2007

FURTHER STUDIES (in French only)

CORRESPONDANCES (in French only)

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PROCESS

OVERVIEW OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Extent of the impact

Impact on the Human Environment

Impact on the Biological Environment

Environmental Impact of the Gas Pipeline

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN