Canada’s Coastal GasLink Emerges from Covid Restrictions

TC Energy said February 19 its Coastal GasLink (CGL) project in BC has been approved to emerge from workforce restrictions imposed late last year by health authorities in British Columbia to stem the spread of Covid-19.

CGL’s plan to bring workers back to the 667-km pipeline project, which stretches from Groundbirch near Dawson Creek in northeastern BC to LNG Canada’s liquefaction terminal at Kitimat on the province’s northern coast, was approved by BC’s Northern Health Authority (NHA) and Dr Bonnie Henry, its provincial health officer.

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“The plan will see the gradual deployment of additional personnel across the route over the coming weeks and marks a significant step in our path to full remobilization while ensuring the health and safety of the workforce and indigenous and local communities remains paramount,” TC Energy said in a statement posted to the CGL website. “As of February 17, there were 963 field workers on the project.”

LNG Canada’s return to work plan was approved earlier this month.

In late January, CGL had 613 workers at various locations. In December 2020, prior to a holiday slow-down and imposition of the workforce restrictions, 3,677 workers were active on the project.

A pivotal factor in the NHA’s approval of the return-to-work plan, TC Energy said, was CGL’s newly-enhanced Covid-19 management plan – with increased health and safety measures – which will allow critical environmental, safety and asset integrity work to proceed as soon as possible. And some specific activities need to be completed, for environmental protection, before the ground begins to thaw in March, it said.