Inuvik (Dec 10/04) - After examining the Environmental Impact Statement for the Mackenzie pipeline, the Joint Review Panel (JRP) has many unanswered questions.

In a 20-page letter to Imperial Oil's Peter Grout, manager of regulatory affairs for the pipeline, the review panel detailed its information requests.

It is the JRP's responsibility to review the EIS and make a recommendation regarding the proposed pipeline to the federal minister of environment. On the issue of sustainability, the JRP requested further information in several areas, including social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts.

An updated status report on all traditional knowledge discussions already completed and a "best estimate" timeline for the submission of all traditional knowledge reports to the panel were two of several requested additions.

Lead spokesperson for the producers proposing the pipeline is Hart Searle of Imperial. Speaking from his Calgary office Monday, Searle said officials were still in the process of reviewing and analyzing the letter.

"This request for more information is consistent with the Joint Review Process and we had anticipated it," he added.

The JRP wants a response from the producers by the end of December, outlining when the requested additions to the EIS can be expected. Searle says that deadline will be met.

And while the JRP had questions for the producers, the media had plenty of questions for panel chair Robert Hornal during a press conference Monday in Yellowknife.

After Hornal introduced himself and his team, he made an effort to separate the work of the JRP from that of other boards.

"We are not the environmental assessment agency, not the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board and not under the Inuvialuiut Final Agreement," he said in an attempt to highlight the panel's autonomy. However, the impression that the panel's work is merely a formality was firmly rejected by Hornal.

"After we complete our review, the panel is free to make any recommendation to the minister (of environment) that it sees fit," he said.

When asked about pipeline right of ways, Hornal said they will not be finalized until the National Energy Board approves the project.

Two Deh Cho lawsuits -- one filed in territorial court, the other in federal court --question the JRP's legitimacy, but Hornal said review work would continue as planned.

"Should bodies wish to remake the panel or stop the process, that is up to them. For now, we have a job to do and that's what we're going to do."