Groups call for complete restart of Energy East review after new panel named
CALGARY — Environmental groups are calling for the Energy East pipeline review process to start from scratch now that the National Energy Board has formally appointed new members to the review panel.
Transition Initiative Kenora filed a notice of motion Tuesday arguing that all decisions made by the prior panel members have been put into question after they stepped down because of questions about a potential conflict of interest last year.
“What we’re arguing is that because there is this reasonable apprehension of bias associated with that panel, any of those discretionary decisions that they’ve made carry the taint of that potential bias,” said Teika Newton, executive director of Transition Initiative Kenora.
The Energy East hearings were stalled last fall after NEB chairman Peter Watson and vice-chair Lyne Mercier were accused of a conflict of interest for meeting privately with Jean Charest, who was a paid consultant at the time for the pipeline’s backer, TransCanada (TSX:TRP), to discuss public opinion around the controversial project.