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CALGARY — The proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project has spurred fierce national debate about whether heavy oil spilled in sea water floats or sinks, how much disaster insurance pipeline projects should carry and the economic rewards of shipping oil sands bitumen across the ocean to foreign markets.
On Monday, forces for and against the $6.5-billion project will gather at a hotel in Terrace, B.C., for the beginning of two weeks of final arguments.
While it’s by no means the end to the wrangling, it’s the last opportunity for arguments to be heard before the joint review panel – an independent body mandated by the Environment Minister and the National Energy Board – withdraws to write a report that will recommend for or against the project.
The report, due by the end of year, will help shape a federal cabinet decision on whether to green light the project. But even Ottawa’s approval, if eventually granted, could simply mean the beginning of years of legal appeals by First Nations and environmental groups trying to stop the project.
Northern Gateway lies at the centre of broader debates about treaty rights, the relationship between provinces and whether oil supertanker traffic will become part of the view in the coastal city of Kitimat, B.C.
“Really, what it all boils down to is the risks are too high for the Kitimat region as well as the other First Nations regions,” Ellis Ross, chief councillor of the Haisla First Nation, said of the project, which plans to run a pipeline through Haisla traditional territory as well as locate a supertanker terminal there.
The pipeline proponents, led by Enbridge Inc., have spent $500-million on environmental and engineering studies, public consultations and legal fees for the project, which would transport bitumen from Alberta to the West Coast and then ship it by tanker to markets in Asia and California.
Northern Gateway Pipelines Inc. will speak for two hours on Monday, arguing that the project is in the national interest because it offers a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to connect growing supplies of oil sands crude to burgeoning Asian markets. Its submission also states the project is not likely to cause significant adverse effects on the environment.
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