Thousands of workers returning to LNG megaprojects in northern B.C., with mandatory COVID-19 testing in place

More than 3,000 industrial workers are set to arrive this month at work camps and construction sites at energy megaprojects in northern B.C., with the majority coming from outside the region.

That's according to LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink,as work on their LNG export terminal andnatural gas pipeline, respectively worth a combined $46 billion ramps up following slowdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The influx of workers has raised concerns from residents about the risk of coronavirus transmission in communities close to work sites and camps.

But LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink separately owned projects that, together, willmove natural gas from northeast B.C. to the province's North Coastfor export to Asia say that's being mitigated by the rollout of mandatory COVID testing for all workers, whether they're symptomatic or not.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henrypermitted LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink to gradually increase the number of workers on their sites earlier this year, under stringent conditions. By the end of March, the combined number of people working on the pipeline and export terminal is scheduled to increase to almost 6,000from fewer than 1,000at the start of the year.

• Click here for more stories from CBC Prince George

Even while operating with reduced staff, the megaprojectsweren't immune to the spread of COVID-19.

Northern Health declared fourdifferent COVID-19 outbreaks at Coastal GasLink and LNG Canada work sites or camps between November and January, with a total of 128 workers infected.

Airport testing

To allay fears of potential future outbreaks, company-funded rapid testing isramping up for fly-in workers from outside the region, with testing in place at airports in Vancouver, Nanaimo, Kelowna,Calgary, Edmonton, and Ontario.

An LNG Canada spokesperson saysthe companyhas already administered antigen tests to 1,700 workers before they boarded charter flights at the Edmonton and Calgary airports.

The company said out-of-town workers are prohibited from leavingthe job siteexcept to return home on their days off, and they will be re-tested each time they return to the region. They're also barredfrom visiting local businesses.

Local workers will be tested every three weeks, saidLNG Canada, which isalready operating three on-site private health clinics withCOVID-19isolation wings.

Coastal GasLinksaid it hasstarted testing employeesattwo work campsusingPCR testing, which can deliver results within 48 hours, and plans to expand that to workers along the pipeline's 670-kilometreconstruction route.

"This is another layer of protection, to keep our workforce and communities safe," said Michael Gibb, Coastal GasLink's director of health,safetyand security.

Previously, the private sector wasn't able to requisition test kits and labs, Gibb said.

"In the early days of the pandemic, any available testing and supplies, the government immediately grabbed, as they should,for public health," he said.

'Cadillac private health system'

But Dr. David Bowering, a retired chief medical health officer with Northern Health who lives in the region, says the elevated risk of transmission remains.

He also said it's unfairthat mega projectslike these can afford to "import this deluxe, Cadillac private health system and level of testing," while the public health system is "rationing COVID testing for people just doing ordinary things like trying to run restaurants and stores."

"It doesn't feel right, the granting of essential service status to these huge projects ... while everything else stops and shuts down and changes so dramatically," Boweringsaid.

Coastal GasLink's Gibbsaid it's up to public health officials to determine if there's a need for expanded community testing.

Last year, LNG Canadadonated $500,000 for COVID-19response measures in Kitimat, Terrace, and local Indigenous communities.

District of Kitimat Mayor Phil Germuth welcomes the return of workers to his community, where the LNG export terminal is under construction.

"It's good to see they're going to start ramping up again and get the project back on track," Germuth told CBC News. "Honestly, I haven't had a single person come to me with concerns."

Germuth said LNG Canada's new testing protocols make him "very confident that ... everything will go as smoothly as it can."

Three other largeindustrial projects in northern B.C. have also been granted permission by provincial health officials to increase their work force.

A spokesperson for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project said the company expects as many as1,000 workerswill be on the job in the Valemount area, between Jasper and Prince George,within the next three months, as work proceeds on twinning anoil pipeline between Alberta and Burnaby, B.C..

In the Kitimat area, Rio Tinto's B.C. Works projectis planning fora "gradual ramp-up ... when it is safe to do so," a company spokesperson told CBC News.

A spokesperson for BC Hydro's Site C dam project near Fort St. John said the number of workers on site is expected to increase to more than 2,300in the coming weeks, with additionalworkers expected in summer.