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Farmers defiant as gas company demands access
“
...if if th the order d comes through, then we’re backed into a corner where we won’t have any other recourse except to stand in front of the machines ~ Gord Mitchell
”
Alina Konevski The Progress
Some Chilliwack farmers are fighting to protect their land from unnecessary damage by a natural gas pipeline company, even under threat of a forced entry order. Members of the Fraser Valley Association of Pipeline Landowners, led by president Gord Mitchell, want a stringent contract with Spectra Energy before the company enters their land to replace an outdated pipeline under their fields. Negotiations have failed. Mitchell was served legal papers on Friday from Spectra Energy, indicating that the company has applied to the National Energy Board for a forced entry order onto Mitchell’s cornfield, which is home to the wellknown Sparkes Corn Barn. Mitchell has 21 days to respond before NEB makes a ruling. “We’re just going to ask the NEB that they leave it for us to sign a contract so that we can protect ourselves,” said Mitchell. “If the worst happens, if the order comes through, then we’re backed into a corner where we won’t have any other recourse except to stand in front of the machines. Because we have to have this (the contract). We can’t allow them to do this again,” he said, referring to land damage resulting from Spectra’s repair of the pipeline two years ago. Since first installing the pipeline in
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Corn farmer Gord Mitchell (left) is refusing to let Spectra Energy access his land to replace a natural gas pipeline that runs underneath his cornfields because of extensive damage that was done the last time the company did work there. Mitchell is seen here with neighbouring farmer, Alf Kloot, whose land is also atop the pipeline. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
1957, the line has become strained as Chilliwack’s population has grown and activity passing overhead and nearby has increased. In line with regulations, Spectra Energy must replace three kilometres of pipeline that cuts underneath the city with another pipe with stronger walls. Most of the designated replacement will be through agricultural land, 2.4 km in the east end of the city below Luckukuck Way, passing through Chilliwack River and Prairie Central roads. The company planned to start this first phase of the project early this month, expecting to complete it by September. However, because some
farmers along the line have refused access without a rigid contract, Spectra has not begun the work. In 2011, Spectra came onto Mitchell’s land to investigate an anomaly in the pipe. The crop at the dig site was totally damaged as a result. And, the heavy machinery that drove through the field to access the dig compressed the soil to such an extent that next year’s corn along the access route was much smaller and paler, and worth much less, than the corn one row over. “We will be compensating for damages and for crop losses based on the fair market value of whatever crops are affected...in that 30-metre
right-of-way,” said Gary Weilinger, Spectra Energy’s vice-president of external affairs. Mitchell received approximately $68,000 in compensation for damage related to Spectra’s work on the pipeline in 2011. But the amount covered only one year of losses, whereas crop damage has extended to every subsequent year. There was total crop loss on the dig site in both 2011 and 2012, according to Mitchell. He expects 80–90 per cent loss in the area this year. This does not include crop damage along the machinery access route. Spectra Energy commits to repair-
ing operation sites, including replacing topsoil, shrubs, and, in the case of city work, pavement. “We put everything back,” said Weilinger. “We will leave things the way we found it before we came.” In 2011, because of the urgent nature of the work, Spectra contractors did not remove the topsoil prior to digging. The quality of the replacement topsoil on the land was very poor, Mitchell says. The dry earth is low in nutrients and nitrogen, and has failed to nurture a good crop. The Mitchell family has had an easement agreement with Spectra Continued: GAS/ p9
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