B.C. BLESSING

Shell’s LNG plant gets environmental OK —with 50 conditions.

A Royal Dutch Shell PLC-backed liquefied natural gas project in British Columbia secured environmental permits on Wednesday from federal and provincial regulators in a sign that the fledgling industry is gaining momentum.

The federal Enviroment Ministry said LNG Canada must comply with 50 legally binding conditions throughout the life of the project.

“The LNG Canada Export Terminal Project underwent a thorough science-based environmental assessment conducted by the government of British Columbia, which included extensive and meaningful consultations with the public and aboriginal groups,” Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq said. “The environmental assessment process benefited from scientific and technical expertise, aboriginal traditional knowledge as well as constructive feedback received during consultations, to enable an informed decision by both governments.”

In a separate statement, the B.C. environmental agency said its approval for the Shell project is contingent on the company meeting 24 conditions, including monitoring environmental impacts and ongoing consultation with aboriginals and local communities. The provincial regulator had conducted the review on Ottawa’s behalf to reduce duplication of environmental assessment.

LNG Canada, which is also backed by Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan, Korea Gas Corporation and PetroChina, has yet to make a final investment decision on the project.

“We have made significant progress to advance our project over the past year,” said Andy Calitz, CEO of LNG Canada. “Receiving both provincial and federal approval of our environmental assessment is a critical milestone on our path to making a final investment decision. We could not have achieved this without input from the local community of Kitimat and First Nations, and we appreciate the local knowledge they shared with us.”

However, the company said the project must ensure it is economically viable and meets several other significant milestones related to gas supply, engineering and cost estimates, supply of labour, and regulatory approvals before making a final investment decision.

A rival project backed by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas Bhd. is still awaiting a permit after the provincial regulator asked for more information from the proponent last Friday, the same day the consortium gave a conditional approval to its $11-billion project.

The Petronas-backed Pacific Northwest LNG said it would continue to engage with aboriginals and local communities, many of whom are vehemently opposed to the project’s location.