Engaging with communities

Yes, our Senior Vice-President of External Relations is responsible for external engagement. Alongside our Environment and Land teams, our Indigenous Relations, Government Relations and Community Relations teams work to continuously build and cultivate positive and constructive relationships with stakeholders and rightsholders through project advocacy and education.

Learn more about our commitment to the environment, our work with landowners and our approach to Indigenous relations.

As part of our commitment to being responsible stewards on the land we share, and in support of the regulatory process, we assess potential effects that may be associated with construction and operation of a proposed project. Some examples of possible effects associated with meter station, compressor station or pipeline projects include potential effects to soil, water, fish, wildlife, air quality and noise. Through engagement with community stakeholders, we also learn important local information that feeds into these assessments and the final project design.

The Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment prepared for a proposed project considers potential effects on communities and groups whose interests may inform our planning process, including the potential for a project to impact diverse groups of people. We propose mitigation and enhancement measures and evaluate the significance of residual effects once these measures are implemented. An Environmental Protection Plan is also developed to identify the necessary measures to be used during construction, and the best practices we use to guide operations of the assets throughout their life cycle to manage effects and maintain equivalent land capability.

Learn more about how we manage our environmental footprint

TC Energy employs a systematic and thorough route selection process using a variety of considerations, such as:

• desktop studies
• helicopter surveys
• ground verification and on-the-ground field survey
• engineering, geotechnical and environmental field studies
• co-location of the pipeline along existing disturbances and corridors to minimize new footprints

Route selection takes into account the objectives of minimizing the total route length or land requirements, meeting applicable regulatory requirements and reducing the environmental footprint, while carefully assessing overall construction complexity and our ability to meet customer needs. Feedback received through stakeholder, landowner and Indigenous engagement informs the assessment of proposed routes and sites.

We believe that when we build an asset, we temporarily borrow the land – learn more.

During construction there is an increase in traffic in and around the project area as well as heavy equipment onsite. We adhere to construction plans and the Environmental Protection Plan to ensure that the impacts of construction activities on communities are minimized.

Many of our projects include the use of temporary work space and, if required, workforce accommodations are built to support construction. If our plans include these features, we begin the conversation with potentially affected stakeholders early on to hear and understand community interests.

Access to-and-from site is planned based on a number of factors including finding the safest and most efficient routes to our work site, existing infrastructure, new infrastructure required to support construction and municipal planning. Access planning is refined throughout project development and final plans are communicated to communities prior to starting work.

Once construction is completed, the impacted land area – including our temporary work space and workforce accommodation areas – is reclaimed to an equivalent land capability so that it can support various uses similar to the ability that existed previously. Measures are taken to prevent topsoil/surface material loss from wind and water erosion and to establish a vegetative cover native to the surrounding vegetation and land use. After the facilities are constructed, there will be minimal traffic associated with ongoing operations and maintenance.

Learn more about how we protect the environment throughout the life cycle of our assets.

Our safety program starts before construction. We use only high-quality materials, the latest proven technologies and industry-leading practices to ensure the integrity of our pipelines before they go in the ground. We are a leader in North America in the use of automatic welding and ultrasonic testing technologies to construct pipelines. These technologies ensure high quality welds are made and every weld is inspected by qualified independent inspectors during construction. Prior to placing a pipeline in service, it is hydrostatically tested with water at a higher pressure than it will see during operations. In addition, pipeline inspection tools with high resolution sensors are run through the pipeline to check for any other irregularities prior to flowing natural gas.

Once operational, we use state-of-the-art leak detection systems, safety features such as shut-off valves and provide highly specialized training for people working on our assets. Our pipeline systems are monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by trained operators in our Operations Control Centres who manage the most sophisticated pipeline monitoring equipment and technology available. Our industry-leading asset integrity programs manage our pipeline and facilities for their entire life cycle to ensure they provide safe and reliable energy to consumers throughout North America.

Safety is our number one value – learn more.

Our regional community liaisons live and work in the communities where we already operate facilities, continuing to engage with stakeholders while focusing their efforts on public awareness, emergency response and community investment.

Our goal is to ensure that our pipeline and energy facilities operate safely every day and that the public, our employees, and the environment are protected during the unlikely event of incident involving our assets. All TC Energy safety initiatives are designed to advance one goal: Zero is Real. We are proud to have an industry leading safety record and continue to work towards our goal of zero safety incidents. Being prepared for the rare cases when something does go wrong is part of the commitment to ensuring the safety of the communities where we live and operate.

At the first sign of any potential issue on our pipeline systems, our control centre operators can stop the flow of product through the pipeline in minutes and investigate. If an irregular condition is detected, pipeline operators immediately dispatch emergency personnel to the scene to investigate. The pipeline is not restarted until it has been confirmed on site by qualified personnel that it is safe to do so.

In the unlikely event of an incident, all our assets - including pipelines and power generation facilities - have specific Emergency Response Plans that outline the steps we'll take to respond. Our Emergency Preparedness and Response team is focused on quickly and effectively responding to emergencies and mitigating any impacts that may have occurred to public safety, property or the environment in a timely manner. If there is an incident, we work closely with authorities, emergency responders and the media to ensure local residents are safe and aware of the situation.

In the event of an emergency, please contact the relevant TC Energy emergency contact number.