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Keyera has history of safe operations

Dear Editor:

Re: UPTAG offers to help landowners post signs

I am writing in response to Mr. W.A. Kinley’s letter (published March 8, 2011) regarding the Carlos pipeline, a raw gas-gathering pipeline that Keyera is building in the Hoadley region of west central Alberta.

As part of Keyera’s community engagement process, details of the proposed pipeline were communicated in three ways: by contacting residents and landowners within the proposed pipeline’s 200-metre emergency planning zone, through newspaper advertisements and by presenting the proposal at a community meeting. The size of the emergency planning and notification zone is dictated by the ERCB and is intended to identify all landowners and residents who would be significantly impacted by a pipeline leak.

To identify other residents outside the notification radius who may also have concerns about our pipeline, we used newspaper advertisements and community meetings. Throughout the consultation processes, Keyera received no formal objections from residents or landowners about the proposed pipeline’s installation or the subsequent emergency response plan.

The 45-kilometre, 12-inch pipeline is licensed to carry small quantities of H2S (up to 1,000 parts per million). This natural gas will be transported to the Keyera Rimbey Gas Plant, one of Alberta’s largest gas processing facilities, and part of the Rimbey community for more than 50 years.

The Rimbey gas plant uses modern technology to recover high levels of sulphur (99 per cent) from its gas, which minimizes the release of sulphur into the atmosphere. The associated CO2 plant recovers liquid CO2 from the gas, which reduces emissions of greenhouse gases during gas processing.The alternative to the Rimbey plant processing this gas is to send it to another facility that would flare the sulphur compounds. The Carlos pipeline can help in a net reduction of sulphur and associated greenhouse gases in the Rimbey region.

As a resident of the greater Rimbey area, and an employee of the Rimbey Gas Plant for over fifteen years, I must close by adding that Keyera has a long history of safe operations with their facilities. Since inception we have seen the value in engaging members of the community in our decisions and we continue to put public safety as a top priority in all of our operations.

Should anyone wish to receive more information or ask questions, I encourage them to call me at (403) 843-7113.

R.D. (Bob ) Morrish,

director of operations,

Rimbey Gas Plant, Keyera