Not enough research to estimate environmental cost of Northern Gateway: lawyer
by The Canadian Press
Accusing Enbridge of blocking marine planning that would have provided information
EDMONTON—A lawyer says Enbridge hasn’t done enough research to properly estimate the environmental cost of its proposed $6-billion Northern Gateway pipeline.
Brenda Gartner, who represents several First Nations along the B.C coast, is also accusing Enbridge of blocking marine planning that would have provided some of that information.
Gartner asked Enbridge at hearings in Edmonton why the company lobbied the federal government over an effort to study the West Coast and consider how it should be used.
Ottawa effectively stalled that study when it subsequently rejected an $8-million grant from a non-profit group that would have funded the effort.
Enbridge official John Carruthers denied the company wanted to scuttle the marine planning effort, but acknowledged Enbridge was concerned about the source of some of that funding.
Gartner also suggested Enbridge hasn’t done enough research to be able to estimate the cost of its proposal on resources such as salmon.
Environmental economists have said their work was strictly limited to the pipeline corridor and did not consider impacts outside that one-kilometre strip.
The pipeline would carry bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands to the West Coast for shipping to Asian markets.
