Watchdog group claims public being ignorged on pipeline
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Feb 07/01) - An environmental watchdog agency says the public needs a say in how a Mackenzie Valley pipeline will be assessed.
Right now, all the decisions are being made behind closed doors said Canadian Arctic Resources Committee research director Kevin O'Reilly.
"What are they going to do, come out at the end and say this is the way it's going to be done?" he said.
His comments followed two days of private meetings last week between government, environmental and aboriginal agencies working to streamline how a natural gas pipeline proposal would be assessed by regulatory agencies.
Roland Semjanovs, spokesperson for the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board (MVEIRB), says no consideration has been given to involving the public in the development of a co-ordinated approach to pipeline assessment.
"It's something that hasn't come up," said Semjanovs. "It hasn't been a topic of discussion."
Semjanovs emphasized the task of a working group is not to develop a new process but to co-ordinate existing ones.
He said the public will have input when a proposal is put forward for review.
At last week's meeting, the working group worked to develop criteria for evaluating a pipeline proposal. In addition to the MVEIRB, the working group includes representation from the National Energy Board, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, territorial government, Inuvialuit environmental impact review board, Inuvialuit land administration and Inuvialuit environmental screening committee.
Imperial Oil Canada spokesperson Hart Searle said a producers group is "very interested" in the progress co-ordinating regulation and assessment of a proposal.
The producers group, composed of representatives of Imperial Oil Canada, Shell Canada, Gulf Canada, ExxonMobil Canada, is doing a feasibility study on a stand-alone pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley.
The producers have said if a pipeline makes sense to the Mackenzie Valley gas producers, regulatory applications will be filed some time this year. No deadline has been set, Searle said.
"We certainly have been encouraged by the work completed so far," said Searle of the feasibility study.
Semjanovs said no deadline has been set for the development of the co-ordinated assessment and regulatory approach.
"We do have breathing room," he said. "It's not like they're going to be applying next week or next month.
"The producers have their own work to do before they can make an application."
