A 96-page report from the Ontario Energy Board raises a host of concerns about TransCanada’s proposal to convert its natural gas pipeline to carry crude oil from Alberta, through Ontario to the East Coast.

The concerns were raised by citizens and groups at hearings across northern and eastern Ontario.

OIL SPILL: A major spill could cost $1 billion or more to clean up and contaminate waterways, sources of drinking water and wildlife. The OEB has asked TransCanada to consider alternate routes around sensitive areas, including the St. Lawrence Seaway.

NATURAL GAS PRICES: Consumers worry the pipeline conversion could tilt the supply and demand of natural gas against them, forcing prices up. The OEB predicts prices could rise an average of 12 per cent in eastern Ontario from December to February.

PIPELINE SAFETY: A primary issue is “the potential for stress corrosion” on four sections of the pipeline coated with polyurethane tape near Ignace, Martin, Nipigon and Jellicoe, Ont., the OEB says. But it notes the pipeline, built to carry natural gas under pressure, “generally has a higher resistance to cracking and fracture than a newly installed oil pipeline.”

ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES: The OEB says it found “widespread opposition” to the pipeline conversion in First Nations and Métis communities over fears of spills that would contaminate their traditional hunting and fishing grounds. There are also concerns “neither TransCanada nor the National Energy Board has respected their aboriginal or treaty rights.”

CLIMATE CHANGE: While the National Energy Board will examine the greenhouse gasses emitted by the construction and operation of Energy East, Ontario wants the “upstream and downstream” effects of GHG emissions measured, which would include Alberta’s oil sands and refineries at the end of the pipeline. Without this, the OEB argues, “any assessment of Energy East would not be complete.”

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