Mackenzie gas review opens

John King
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Jan 30/06) - Public hearings into an industrial project that promises to bring sweeping changes in the Mackenzie Valley opened in Ingamo Hall Jan. 25 with prayers, song and dance.

Performances by the Inuvik Drummers and Dancers and East Three Reelers eased the tension in the crowd assembled for the first day of National Energy Board hearings into the $7 billion Mackenzie Gas Project.

NNSL Photo/graphic

Inuvik Drummers and Dancers perform at the opening of the National Energy Board hearing in Inuvik, Jan. 25. - John King/NNSL photo
THE PROJECT:

The Mackenzie Gas Project will deliver natural gas from three anchor fields: Taglu, Parsons Lake and Niglingtgak.
It will require a gathering systems of 650 km of buried pipelines.
The largest part of the project is a 1200 km pipeline from the delta to the Alberta border.
There will be three compressor stations along the route as well as a heater station.

"The scope of our undertaking is huge," Ken Vollman, chair of the NEB panel, told about 150 oil executives, activists, aboriginal leaders, and territorial government officials in his opening address.

"We will hear from people with many points of view, and will consider those views before making our decision."

Around 24,000 pages of evidence have been submitted by intervenors and the proponents - Imperial Oil, ConocoPhillips Canada, Shell Canada, Exxon Mobile and the Aboriginal Pipeline Group.

"Our decision will be based on the information filed with the NEB," Vollman said. "It will also be based on what is said during this public review."

While the board hears evidence on technical aspects of the project, the Joint Review Panel will assess its environmental, social, cultural impacts at separate hearings that open Feb. 14 in Inuvik.

The board and panel will hold hearings at communities throughout the Territories this year before returning for final sessions in Inuvik next December. Their reports and recommendations will go to the federal government in 2007.

The opening day audience held a range of views, reflecting the differing opinions Northerners have on the project and process.

Richard Gordon, an Inuvialuit beneficiary who works as a Hershel Island Park manager, dropped in on the opening ceremonies to find out what's going on. "It's pretty surprising to learn how things were negotiated," Gordon said.

"A lot of local people don't have the opportunity to sit on boards. We're in the dark."

Marjorie Elanik, a Gwich'in elder who attended hearings on a similar project 30 years ago, said "I trust the oil companies now; I didn't in the 70s.

"Today the oil companies are talking with the people and giving us information," Elanik said.

Richard Nerysoo, Inuvik band chief and Gwich'in negotiator for access and benefits from the project, worries how it will affect people of the Mackenzie Valley.

"Where will all the aboriginal communities fit in, and how will the immigration of labour affect us?" Nerysoo asked.

"We cannot create barriers. If we do, we're only hurting our own people," Nerysoo said.