A pipeline segment project near Fort Simpson, NWT, could temporarily boost the area’s economy, while potentially laying a foundation for future partnerships between Aboriginal communities and the oil and gas industry.

Enbridge is repairing 2.5 km of the Norman Wells Pipeline, also known as Line 21, which transports crude oil from Norman Wells to Zama, Alta., where it is later sent to Edmonton. The pipeline shut down in November 2016 so the company could investigate slope instability near the Mackenzie River crossing about 10 km southeast of Fort Simpson. Oil was safely removed from the area of the pipeline under the river and reinjected into another part of the pipeline. The company plans to drill a tunnel underneath the Mackenzie River and pull a replacement  segment through the tunnel. It will use a trenchless drilling method known as horizontal directional drilling. 

The $53 million replacement project began in March when work sites were constructed. Drilling and installation of the new segment is scheduled for the summer. The site will be decommissioned in September, and the two camps supporting the project are planned to be shut down by October. 

Enbridge estimates this will create 120 temporary positions. The project affects many Aboriginal groups, most directly the Liidlii Kue First Nation (LKFN) of Fort Simpson. 

The project is positive for the community, Mayor Darlene Sibbeston said. Company representatives have come to council meetings several times to update the Village about the project’s progress. More than $12 million was spent in the area between November 2016 and April 2017, the National Energy Board (NEB) said in its report approving the project. 

The real value of the project could be in the jobs it will create in the short-term, and the potential for future opportunities. Nogha Enterprises, LKFN’s business arm, has helped many people find jobs. The company mainly specializes in general labour. According to the NEB report, more than 80 people were hired by Nogha for borehole drilling during the winter of 2017. Ria Letcher, the general manager, said that as of early May the company has secured work for 36 individuals since the project began in March. More than half of those hired have been from the local community. These have included clearing worksites, or jobs as security guards. 

The NEB report says Enbridge has committed to hiring 14 local Aboriginal people for various monitoring positions during the project. The company plans to hire as many local people as possible, it said, but will not be creating any new permanent jobs in Fort Simpson because of this project.

Prefect Timing

For Wesley Pellissey, this project couldn’t have come at a better time. Pellissey owns Brave Adventures, a company based in Hay River. He specializes in knocking down trees. He cleared the area for some of the camps. Opportunities like this – driving through the bush about 10 hours a day for almost a month – are ideal.

“For people like me, ‘bush guys,’ these types of jobs are what we’re looking for all the time,” he said.

This type of work isn’t always available, though. The winter had been slow for him, job-wise. One of Pellissey’s greatest mentors was his grandfather, a man who taught him that everything in life will work out the way it’s supposed to. Pellissey was starting to find that difficult to remember as he watched his bills grow while he waited for more work. Then, he got the job on the Enbridge project “just in the nick of time.” It ended at a good time, too. Just a few days after he finished clearing the site, other contractors were ready and able to bring in wooden mats to make a temporary road to the site. Pellissey said he thinks he might be able to get more work clearing out other camp sites when they are needed.

Pellissey, who is originally from Wrigley and a member of the Pehdzeh Ki First Nation, said working with Enbridge helps him improve his skills and continue innovating. “If you really want things in life,” he said, “you have to work hard for it, and know what you want and go with it.”

It’s too early to say how many jobs will be created as the work on the site continues. Letcher said she wants to try and secure jobs in camp kitchens or housekeeping. There may also be jobs available in fuelling and maintaining boats. A consultant will be working with Nogha to help the company maximize the job potential from the project. The skills people learn from working on this project could be used in other jobs in the future, she said.

The area “deserves” the financial injection projects like the pipeline replacement bring, said Letcher. “It really is a jewel,” she said, describing the natural beauty of the region that has Nahanni National Park Reserve as the community’s backyard.

But it can be a difficult place for companies to invest. Ongoing land claims negotiations make development uncertain. “It’s a very challenging area,” Letcher said. Many people are watching the project. Enbridge wants to make sure workers are good at their jobs and doing the work properly. Affected Aboriginal groups want to make sure the land, water, animals and their ways of life are respected.

This tension has existed since the pipeline was constructed in the 1980s.

Time to Move Forward

“The reality is that (the pipeline is) here,” said LKFN Chief Gerald Antoine. “You cannot undo the past.” He compared the replacement project to repairing a broken pipe in a house: it’s something that needs to be done for maintenance. But Enbridge needs to respect that the pipeline is on the First Nation’s traditional territory, he said, and the First Nation should benefit from it. This means making sure the environment is protected. It also means making sure the First Nation gets more jobs from the project. Antoine said he plans to meet with the company and discuss how they can all work together. “We need to be looking at all the possible opportunities and we need to really look at carving those things to the best of our knowledge,” he said. “We certainly would like to have people involved.”

The National Energy Board highlighted the importance of industry and Aboriginal communities working together when it approved the segment replacement in January.  “Reconciling different value systems, cultures and worldviews is not an easy task,” the Board wrote in its report describing the cultural history of the project. It noted how at hearings, which were held in Fort Simpson, company representatives and Aboriginal communities expressed a desire to live well together, to be “good neighbours.”

The Board said it found Enbridge had done enough consultation about this project with affected Aboriginal groups – the longest chapter in the report is devoted solely to describing the communication between Enbridge and affected Aboriginal groups. But it also noted some problems. The Board said some Aboriginal people described company officials as being condescending. This attitude, the Board said, is “antithetical to reconciliation.” 

Everyone affected by a project needs to work towards reconciliation, the Board wrote, saying it “does not have prescriptions nor sufficient scope of action to reliably produce meaningful reconciliation nor does it have the power to right historic wrongs or address larger constitutional issues regarding Indigenous peoples.”

The Board did tell Enbridge to provide regular updates to Aboriginal groups about the project.

Some things are changing. Pellissey said there were very high environmental protection standards on the project. Drip pans were placed under every parked vehicle, whether they were running or not. Members of the First Nation helped monitor the site.

This is very different from the way things were when Gilbert Cazon started working with Enbridge in the 1980s. He first learned about the pipeline when he and his brother were working on their trapline and saw trees that had been cut down, with stumps like “spears.” They couldn’t walk through the area. They later met some men who told them they were clearing out the area for the pipeline.

Cazon had to move his trapline because of the pipeline. But he started doing some work for Enbridge. For about three years in the ’80s, he monitored the site once a week. He also translated and interpreted for them. In 2011, he and his wife started K’iyeli Translation, Interpreting, Transcribing Service. Their company provides interpretation and translation services for several companies, including Enbridge. Cazon also runs Aboriginal workshops or ceremonies, like drumming circles, if requested. Most of his work with the Line 21 replacement project happened at the hearings before the project started. But he said he will go visit the site if Enbridge needs him to.

Cazon said wildlife and the land need to be protected during the project. More than that, he hopes the project “builds on the relationship that was developed.” His community could provide many services to the company if they have the opportunity, he said. This can give a “pride in doing good, honest work. And that to me was always an elevating (part of the job) to do a good day’s honest work, and just be so tired at the end of the day,” he said. “That is what you want from these projects.”  ABQ