Enbridge is planning about $1 billion in upgrades to its natural gas pipeline through B.C.

Mark Amundrud says the company plans to upgrade compressor plants and sections of the pipe through urban areas starting next year.

“Similar to what a pump station would be for a liquid product, the compressor station is what gives the gas the boost to push it down the pipeline. So we’re replacing a bunch of units all over the province of British Columbia,” Amundrud says.

“The closest station to here is Savona, we’re not replacing any units there but we’re adding a new gas cooler to the facility, and that will be starting construction next year.”

The company will also be upgrading 900 metres of pipe near Logan Lake, which Amundrud says will start either next year or in 2021 and take about three months to do.

Parts of the pipeline will also be upgraded near 108 Mile Lake (200m), east of Hope (300m), and south of Chilliwack (900m).

“As populations go up around the pipeline, we are obligated to increase the wall thickness around the pipeline, mostly because most pipeline incidents are caused by third-party strikes. More likely to have a third-party strike in a populated area, so we increase the safety factor by increasing wall thickness.”

All of the work to be done has now been approved by the Canada Energy Board (formerly named the National Energy Board).

Amundrud says the company also has already installed new crossovers on the pipe, to allow the pipeline to be sectioned off easier for maintenance if needed and lead to led disruptions of the flow of natural gas. Those crossovers are at the Bonaparte River, 37 kilometres north of Savona, at Hihium Lake, 13 km east of 70 Mile House, and at the Cottonwood River, seven km north of 10 Mile Lake.

The pipeline runs through B.C. from Fort Nelson to the U.S. border in Abbotsford, and was built in 1956.