Review board says LNG project a significant ecological threat

VANCOUVER — Canada’s environmental approval body has concluded that greenhouse gas emissions from a proposed liquefied-natural-gas facility on British Columbia’s north coast pose a significant ecological threat.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has released its draft environmental assessment report and conditions for Pacific North-West LNG’s planned export terminal on Lelu Island south of Prince Rupert.

The report said the project would result in upstream greenhouse gas emissions of 6.5 to 8.7 million tonnes of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere every year, emissions that are high in magnitude, continuous, irreversible and global in extent.

The agency is soliciting public feedback before submitting the document to the federal Environment Ministry, and cabinet is expected to decide whether to approve the project by the end of March.

First Nations in the region have been divided on the project, with some groups voicing strong opposition over the potential impact on the area’s salmon population.

The draft report finds Pacific North-West’s proposed mitigation measures means the salmon-spawning area outside the Skeena River won’t be significantly affected, but that there would be an impact on harbour porpoises in the area.