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The gas companies give their pipeline pitches
It was going to be the biggest private construction project in history. But before a pipeline could be built from the Beaufort Sea to energy-hungry markets in the south, the impact on the North's people, economy and environment had to be determined. That task was given to Justice Thomas Berger, who embarked on an extraordinary three-year odyssey across the Arctic. His report shocked the government that appointed him, and was heralded by some as "Canada's Native Charter of Rights."
Canadian Arctic Gas Pipeline Ltd. is a giant alliance of 27 companies including Exxon and Shell. Their plan is to build a pipeline across the northern Yukon, from Prudhoe Bay to the Mackenzie Delta, then south. It would carry oil from both U.S. and Canadian reserves through the same pipe. Foothills Pipe Lines Ltd. wants to build a smaller, strictly Canadian, pipeline from the Delta.
• Petroleum processing was once more profitable than natural gas development, but in recent years natural gas has grown into the most widely used fuel in Canadian homes.
• Pipeline networks consist of "gathering systems" that move oil and gas from where they are extracted to processing plants; wide "main trunk lines" that carry them to market centres; and distribution systems that get them to consumers.
• Pumps or compressing stations are stationed every 100 kilometres along trunk lines to keep the oil and gas moving.
• Pipelines are usually buried about 1.5 metres underground, but in extreme northern regions permafrost forces above-ground construction.
Program: Take 30
Broadcast Date: June 5, 1976
Guest(s): Robert Blair, Vern Horte
Host: Paul Soles
Duration: 2:48
Last updated: January 20, 2012
Page consulted on March 26, 2013
All Clips from this Topic
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Americans are anxious for oil and gas. Who will provide it?
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Objectors tear into pipeline proposals at a public debate in Toronto.
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At dog races on the Yukon River, the Indian Affairs minister states hi...
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B.C. Supreme Court Justice Thomas Berger discusses his daunting task.
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Accusations fly as the Berger Inquiry opens in Yellowknife.
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An angry Dene chief tells the inquiry he will lay down his life to sto...
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Two companies propose different pipelines down the Mackenzie Valley.
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The Berger Inquiry wraps up today, and it's a last chance for natives ...
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Across the Yukon and Northwest Territories, hundreds of residents give...
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Globe and Mail reporter Jeff Carruthers discusses the pipeline hearing...
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CBC reporters speculate on what the document will recommend.
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Report's text and photos show respect for land and people, and recomme...
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Justice Berger's report is tabled, and it's a blockbuster.
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"We disagree fundamentally with the Berger conclusions."
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Across Canada, native leaders celebrate the Berger Report as "the best...
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On Our Native Land, Berger discusses his three years in the North.
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Massive report shares Berger's concerns, all but killing the pipeline ...
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The second volume of Berger's report lays out a framework for socially...
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As Inuit leaders celebrate Berger's findings, outrage boils over at th...
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For Commentary, Thomas Berger reflects on how new native rights settle...