Canol Project
{{Short description|Former pipeline in Canada and Alaska}}
The Canol Project was an oil pipeline project constructed during World War II to ensure a supply of oil for the defense of Alaska and the North American west coast. The project included a section of crude petroleum transport by barge, a refinery, and a 4-inch pipeline. It was completed in two years at great cost and was abandoned less than a year later.
History
During World War II the United States was concerned about Japan attacking the west coast and cutting off supply lines to Alaska. They built the Alaska Highway to connect Alaska to the rest of the United States and conceived the CANOL (Canadian Oil) project to ensure a supply of oil from Norman Wells in the Canadian Northwest Territories. The US War Department decided to construct the project in April 1942 and it was assigned to the United States Army Corps of Engineers.{{cite book |last1=Finnie |first1=Richard |title=CANOL: The sub-Arctic Pipeline and Refinery Project constructed by Bechtel-Price-Callahan for the Corps of Engineers United States Army 1942-1944 |date=1945 |publisher=Ryder & Ingram |location=San Francisco |access-date=21 December 2020 |url=http://assets.yukonarchives.ca/Finnie_Canol_1945.pdf}}
The construction of infrastructure to Alaska via Norman Wells was first raised by the arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, who proposed a water connection from the railhead at Waterways, Alberta to Norman Wells, and then a road to Fairbanks via Dawson City as an alternative to the Alaska Highway.{{cite journal |last1=Diubaldo |first1=Richard J. |title="The Canol Project in Canadian-American Relations" |journal=Historical Papers / Communications historique |date=1977 |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=178-195 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/59313023.pdf |access-date=6 June 2025}}
The order to construct a pipeline from Norman Wells to Whitehorse was issued by Brigadier General Brehon B. Somervell, head of the Construction Division of the Quartermaster Corps, based on the recommendation of Colonel James Graham, the Dean of Engineering at the University of Kentucky. Graham based his recommendation on a one-day conference he organized, attended mostly by Army officials, where no one present was familiar with the area the pipeline was to be built.
Construction
File:Canol pipeline.jpg, 2020]]
W.A. Bechtel Co, H. Price & Co. and W. E. Callahan Construction Co. formed a consortium to construct the project. Known as Bechtel-Price-Callahan it also included six associated companies. Standard Oil Company was a consultant on the project and would operate the refinery in Whitehorse. Imperial Oil owned the Norman Wells field and would be responsible for the supply of oil. J. Gordon Turnbull and Sverdrup and Parcel were chosen to the project's architect and engineer of record.
The eventual scope of the project included:
- An {{convert|1100|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} barge supply route from Waterways, Alberta to Norman Wells
- A series of ten airfields stretching from Edmonton to Norman Wells
- An {{convert|1000|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} winter road from Peace River, Alberta to Norman Wells
- A water and rail-based supply route via Prince Rupert and Skagway, Alaska
- An all-weather road between Norman Wells and Johnson's Crossing, Yukon
- A refinery in Whitehorse, Yukon
- A total of {{convert|1600|mi|km}} of pipelines connecting Whitehorse to:
- Norman Wells (Canol No. 1)
- Skagway (Canol No.2)
- Watson Lake (Canol No.3), and
- Fairbanks (Canol No. 4)
- A telegraph system connecting all key points of the project
The pipeline was just {{convert|4|in|cm|0}} in diameter. The low gravity crude oil from Norman Wells had a pour point well below the freezing mark and could be run through a narrow pipeline without being heated.{{cite book |last1=Gage |first1=S.R. |title=A walk on the Canol Road |date=1990 |publisher=Mosaic Press |isbn=0-88962-439-9}} The pipeline was laid on the surface of the ground to simplify construction and maintenance. Ten pump stations were needed to move the crude oil to Whitehorse. The pumps were specially designed to be able to use the Norman Wells crude as fuel. An additional 19 pump stations moved the refined fuel along the Alaska Highway from Whitehorse as far as Watson Lake and Fairbanks.
The Whitehorse refinery was purchased used and shipped up from Corpus Christi, Texas.{{cite journal |title=Investigation of the national defense program. Hearings before a Special Committee Investigating the National Defense Program, Part 22: The Canol Project |date=1943 |page=9310 |url=https://archive.org/details/investigationofn22unit/page/n3/mode/2up |access-date=3 June 2025 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, DC}}. It was operated by Standard Oil and located in the Maxwell Industrial Area north of present-day Downtown Whitehorse.{{cite book |author1=Midnight Arts |title=Maxwell Industrial Area |date=April 1999 |publisher=Government of Yukon |location=Whitehorse, YK |url=https://emrlibrary.gov.yk.ca/environment/marwell-industrial-area-historical-research-project-1999.pdf |access-date=3 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405055914/https://emrlibrary.gov.yk.ca/environment/marwell-industrial-area-historical-research-project-1999.pdf |archive-date=5 April 2024}}
The final construction cost for the Canol Project construction has been estimated at US$133 million ({{Inflation|US|133000000|1944|fmt=eq}}) and may have been closer to $300 million when military personnel are included.{{cite journal |last1=Ueda |first1=Herbert T. |last2=Garfield |first2=Donald E. |last3=Hayes |first3=F. Donald | title= The Canol Pipeline Project: A Historical Review |journal=Special Report |volume=77 |issue=34 |url=https://erdc-library.erdc.dren.mil/server/api/core/bitstreams/81b728f8-a7c7-4ef8-e053-411ac80adeb3/content |access-date=2 June 2025 |publisher=Cold Regions Research and Engineering Labratory, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers}}
Operation and decommissioning
The last pipeline weld was completed on February 16, 1944, near Macmillan Pass. The first crude oil reached the refinery in Whitehorse on April 16 and the grand opening was held on April 30. Initially only able to produce gasoline, it was finally able to produce aviation gas in November 1944.
Due to its remoteness and challenging conditions the costs to provide fuel from the Canol were considerably higher than having fuel arrive via tanker. On March 8, 1945, the US War Department made the decision to shut the project down. Work began immediately to winterize all equipment, clean and stock camps and remove all personnel. Shortly after the line was declared as surplus to the war effort. Imperial Oil purchased equipment at Norman Wells for $3 million. Imperial also paid $1 million for the Whitehorse refinery, which had been installed at a cost of $27 million, which they then dismantled and shipped to Alberta. The salvage rights for the remainder of the line were sold for $700,000 and carried out by George Price of Dawson Creek, British Columbia. Some valuable equipment was salvaged but much of the pipeline, telegraph wire, vehicles and buildings were left in place.
The Skagway-Whitehorse (Canol No.2) and Whitehorse-Fairbanks (Canol No.4) sections remained in use for fuel delivery from tankers at the Port of Skagway to Whitehorse and Fairbanks until 1958, when it was replaced by the larger Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline.{{cite book |last1=Hollinger |first1=Kristy |title=The Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline |date=April 2003 |publisher=Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands |location=Ft. Collins, CO |url=https://www.arlis.org/docs/vol1/AlaskaGas/Report4/Report_CEMML_2003_HainesFairbanksPipeline.pdf}} It was then sold to the White Pass & Yukon Company (WPY).{{cite book |author1=K.Bisset & Associates |title=Research of Former Military Sites and Activities in the Yukon |date=April 1995 |publisher=Indian and Northern Affairs Canada |location=Ottawa, ON |url=https://emrlibrary.gov.yk.ca/cw/research-former-military-sites/report.pdf |access-date=6 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250109131639/https://emrlibrary.gov.yk.ca/cw/research-former-military-sites/report.pdf?__cf_chl_rt_tk=5b5G8fe5lc44aw3J3r_OozDX24rbvM0AZJvmI_HbyQY-1736428599-1.0.1.1-lxrlrsYe7FQjeL3PZkKiY66SqXkkzHusVN7FdAUJmGM |archive-date=9 January 2025}} WPY dismantled the Canol No.4 by 1962, but continued to operate Canol No.2 until 1994.
The Whitehorse refinery was dismantled in 1948 and shipped to Edmonton to process oil from the recent discovery at Leduc.
Current status
The Canol Road is still seasonally maintained within the Yukon and is known as Highway 6. A ferry in the community of Ross River, Yukon is used to cross the Pelly River. There are several old vehicle dumps remaining on the Yukon side and an old pipeline crossing remains in Ross River. The bridge has been used as a footbridge and was recently refurbished.{{cite web |title=Ross River's historic footbridge reopens |url=https://www.yukon-news.com/news/ross-rivers-historic-footbridge-reopens/ |website=Yukon News |access-date=11 December 2020 |date=11 June 2018}}
In the Northwest Territories the road is no longer maintained and is now the Canol Heritage Trail. It is estimated that 46,000 barrels of crude oil were spilled along the pipeline route. Many of the abandoned buildings and vehicles contain hazardous materials and telegraph wire has entangled animals such as moose and caribou.
{{cite news
| url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/wwii-era-telephone-lines-snag-n-w-t-moose-caribou-1.2700166
| title = WWII-era telephone lines snag N.W.T. moose, caribou: Abandoned 1940s Canol pipeline cleanup still a work in progress
| publisher = CBC News
| date = 2014-07-08
| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140816020358/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/wwii-era-telephone-lines-snag-n-w-t-moose-caribou-1.2700166
| archivedate = 2014-08-16
| accessdate = 2014-08-19
| url-status = live
}}
Clean-up of telegraph wire began in 2015 and most of the wire along the trail has been coiled up for removal.{{cite news |last1=Kyle |first1=Kate |title=Canol Trail wire cleanup project to move ahead |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/canol-trail-wire-cleanup-project-to-move-ahead-1.3187354 |publisher=CBC News |date=11 August 2015}}{{cite web |title=One of Our Own: Jess Fortner's Canol Trail Clean Up Experience |website=Industry, Tourism and Investment|publisher=Government of Northwest Territories |access-date=24 November 2019 |url=http://www.iti.gov.nt.ca/en/newsroom/one-our-own-jess-fortners-canol-trail-clean-experience}} Remediation work began in 2018 to remove contaminants, telegraph wire and other safety hazards along the trail and expected to be completed in 2020.{{cite web |title=Canol Trail Remediation Project |url=https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1445624695925/1445624831905 |publisher=Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada |access-date=10 December 2020}} Remediation of the trail will allow the creation of Doi T'oh territorial park to proceed as set out in the Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement.{{cite report |chapter=17.3 Canol Trail and Dodo Canyon |title=Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement |chapter-url=https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100031147/1543258621708#chp17 |publisher=Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada |date=15 September 2010}}
Cleanup began in 2018 at the former site of the refinery in Whitehorse, known locally as the Marwell tar pit. Work was expected to be completed in 2020 at a cost of almost $7 million.{{cite web |title=Whitehorse's infamous tar pit gets cleaned up after 73 years {{!}} CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/whitehorse-s-infamous-tar-pit-gets-cleaned-up-after-73-years-1.4874821 |website=CBC |access-date=11 December 2020}}
See also
References
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Category:Oil pipelines in Canada
Category:Oil pipelines in Alaska
Category:History of the Northwest Territories
Category:Petroleum industry in the Northwest Territories
Category:Transport buildings and structures in the Northwest Territories