Feds launch review of oil tanker traffic in bid to renew pipeline approval
OTTAWA — Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi says the government is not assuming the National Energy Board will once again recommend the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion go forward as he asks it to go back and reconsider the environmental impact of increased oil tanker traffic off the coast of British Columbia.
The Liberals are giving the board 22 weeks to conduct a full assessment impact on the number of oil tankers in the Burrard Inlet — from five a month to about 35 a month — that the pipeline will bring. The board is to provide its finding to cabinet by the end of February on whether the pipeline should be approved again and if so, what additional conditions must be met.
The NEB approved the expansion in the spring of 2016, but the Federal Court of Appeal last month overturned that approval, ruling it was given without a proper review of the impact the project will have on marine shipping and, in particular, whether it poses additional risks to the endangered southern resident killer whales.
Sohi said Friday the court decision to tear up the federal approval of the pipeline was “disappointing, but by no means insurmountable.” However he also said the government wants the NEB to keep an open mind as it does the review.