First Nation bails on pipeline hearing
Process blasted by Athabasca Chipewyan chief
In a dramatic turn, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation abruptly pulled out of the Grand Rapids pipeline hearing late Tuesday saying the process favours industry and does not address concerns of First Nations and the environment.
“The Grand Rapids hearings demonstrated how the Alberta government is willing to put the cart before the horse,” said Chief Allan Adam in an release early Tuesday evening.
“TransCanada’s application included incomplete studies and reports, yet the Alberta Energy Regulator still granted a fast-track hearing where TransCanada submitted last minute evidence ...”
The company has not completed a caribou protection plan and impacts of the pipeline on hunting and fishing, said Adam.
“The AER puts us in an impossible position,” said Adam, who called Grand Rapids the “mother of all pipelines” designed to feed into the Keyston XL to the U.S or Energy East, also a TransCanada proposal.
Earlier in the day, the band was unhappy that TransCanada was allowed to enter as evidence its final environment protection plan, a document the band did not see until Tuesday mid morning as it was about to begin its presentation to the AER hearing panel.
That caused a dust-up at the hearing with the First Nation asking for more time to review the proposed protection plan while the company argued any delay would be unacceptable.
The protection plan reveals the 500-km, $3 billion twin pipelines from Edmonton to just west of Fort McMurray will cross 26 rivers and streams in the northern leg and outlines measures to protect the water ways and fish habitat during construction which is slated to begin this fall.
The AFCN is “frustrated at having this sprung on us,” said lawyer Lorraine Land, adding this puts the band “at a severe disadvantage” at the hearing.
She called for an 18-month delay of the hearing to give adequate time to review the final document and assess its recommendations to protect the pipeline corridor.
The new document is crucial, “especially given the new scope of the AER” for decision-making on enforcement of environmental laws, she said.
But TransCanada objected strongly to any delay in the hearings, noting that the company has gone beyond regulatory requirements by producing this environment protection report. Under provincial rules, TransCanada is not required to do an environmental protection plan for a provincial pipeline in the so-called “green zone” in the north, company lawyer Dufferin Harper stressed.
“To adjourn a hearing for a document we are not required to provide, we think that is unacceptable,” Harper told the hearing.
“It’s ludicrous to say we should delay for 18 months” given the AFCN has had a copy of the draft plan since last fall and there are not substantial differences.”
In its ruling, the AER hearing panel gave the AFCN until Wednesday morning to review the company’s plans.
The panel requested the company produce the environmental protection plan for the 900,000 barrel a day project which involves one pipeline to ship bitumen and a smaller parallel pipe for diluent.
The AER does require an environmental protection plan for pipelines in the socalled southern “white zone” of the province, and that has also been submitted by the company, said Darin Barter, AER spokesman.
At this time, companies seeking approvals could be required to produce a different study, called an environmental impact assessment, outlining the environmental footprint of the project for Alberta Environment.
But Alberta Environment told TransCanada such a study was not required in this case, TransCanada confirmed.
Earlier in the day, the Alberta government came u nder f i re for tel l i ng TransCanada it did not have to consult with the AFCN — even though it designated other bands further from the proposed pipeline as required consultation.
The province’s fledgling Aboriginal Consultation Office made the ruling that the AFCN, with reserve land 100 km from the northern hub, did not have to be consulted while Saddle Lake First nation, more than 150 east of the pipeline route, must be consulted.
But TransCanada proceeded with consultation with the AFCN anyway “on the basis of our good neighbour policy,” spokesman Jeff Paquin told the hearing.
“We are in for the long haul and we want good relations,” said Paquin, noting the company has plans for three more projects in the area.
The Aboriginal Consultation Office, which is not giving evidence at the hearing, gave no reasons for its decision not to designate the Athabasca Chipewyan band for consultation.
Despite the government decision, the hearing panel gave the band standing at the hearing. The regulator is not bound by the decisions of the Aboriginal Consultation Office.