Prentice irked by pipeline review’s rising cost, delay

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This article was published 20/07/2009 (6305 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Environment Minister Jim Prentice has condemned as “outrageous” the tripling of the time and cost to $18.6 million of an environmental review of the largest construction proposal in Canadian history, the Mackenzie Valley gas project.

At the same time, Prentice expressed excitement that the results of the review, a huge milestone in the approval process, appears to be within sight.

The independent, quasi-judicial joint review panel says it is taking the time necessary to produce a rigorous, unbiased review of the proposal to develop natural gas fields near the Beaufort Sea and build a 1,220-kilometre pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley in the Northwest Territories to Alberta.

Prentice said the seven-member panel, appointed by the Liberal government in the summer of 2004, has had ample time to do its work and he is riding herd to ensure they submit their overdue report by December — two years after the pipeline hearings ended. They have taking an “unreasonable” amount of time to write the report, he said.

While critical of the panel, Prentice expressed excitement about the prospect of the project going ahead before U.S. proposals for a pipeline through Alaska come on stream.

“In our country we’ve been working on this project for close to 40 years at this point, and we have never been as close as we are at this point,” he said.

Prentice, who has heard an array of complaints about the lengthy process, said he explored the legal options he had over the panel some time ago and found he was very restricted.

He considered firing the panel and starting over but ruled that out as “counterproductive.” Instead, he has been closely monitoring the pace of work and ensuring the panel has the writers and other resources to meet the December deadline.

Prentice was commenting on the $18.6-million panel cost cited in 1,500 pages of documents released in response to an access to information request to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. Two thirds of the panel cost is paid by the private sector, the rest by the federal government.

The access request, which cost $2,500, was made by Permafrost Media, a subscription service established to monitor pipeline news. Editor Anne Cross has also petitioned the federal environment commissioner in the auditor-general’s office to look into spending and accounting controls on the panel.

“Everyone has expressed concern about this — the premier of the Northwest Territories has. I’m up in Yellowknife, I’ve heard extensively from… the business community,” Prentice said.

When the panel was appointed, it was supposed to complete its work in about 16 months and cost $6 million. The access documents indicate the review has grown to 800 pages from 200.

Brian Chambers, a spokesman for the panel, said it is taking the time necessary to produce a thorough review based on analysis of 115 days of hearings and 5,000 submissions. He said the review is commensurate with an environmental-impact statement by Imperial Oil and the other pipeline proponents which “required three years of work and considerable resources to complete” and required further information after it was given to the panel in 2004.

After the review is submitted, the government must respond and both the report and the response will be submitted to the National Energy Board, which has the authority to kill the project or recommend it proceed.

— Canwest News Service