Nisga'a-owned LNG pipeline wins key approval as BC Greens, other First Nations push back
The Environmental Assessment Office says it has determined the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline has 'substantially started,' fulfilling a requirement of the 2014 certificate and allowing the project to proceed without a new assessment.
The original approval was for a roughly 900-kilometre pipeline between Hudson's Hope in northeastern B.C. and Lelu Island near Prince Rupert, the site of a liquefied natural gas processing facility that has since been cancelled.
The pipeline was purchased by the Nisga'a Nation and Texas-based Western LNG last year to supply natural gas to the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG facility, a project the province says is still undergoing environmental assessment.
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The province says the office is also reviewing requests by the proponent to change the pipeline route, including shifting its endpoint to the Ksi Lisims facility and rerouting the eastern portion of the pipeline.
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The BC Greens say in a statement that upholding the original certificate is 'reckless,' prioritizing the project's American financial backers over Indigenous rights, environmental protection and community well-being.
'It's outrageous that the government is allowing construction to proceed with no approved terminus, using an outdated plan, and threatening one of the province's most sensitive salmon habitats, all to serve the interests of foreign-owned fossil fuel companies,' the Greens' interim leader, Jeremy Valeriote, says in the statement.
'This is a betrayal of environmental stewardship, Indigenous rights, and a threat to sustained climate action in this province,' Valeriote says.
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The pipeline is partly financed by the U.S. private equity firm Blackstone, which the Greens described as a major Republican donor with ties to U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Greens' statement also noted that the U.S. engineering and construction company Bechtel had been selected to construct the pipeline.
Western LNG called the substantially started ruling 'a significant milestone in the path toward delivering responsible, Indigenous-led energy infrastructure' in B.C.
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Eva Clayton, president of the Nisga'a Lisims Government, says in a statement released by Western LNG that the ruling was 'an important step — not just for (the pipeline), but for the Nisga'a Nation's vision of self-determination and long-term prosperity.'
The project is opposed by the nearby Lax Kw'alaams Band and Ts'msyen hereditary chiefs, who the Greens say claim jurisdiction over Pearse Island, the site of the proposed Ksi Lisims terminal. Gitanyow hereditary chiefs have also opposed the project based on concerns over Nass River salmon, the Greens add.
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Thursday's statement from the province says the Environmental Assessment Office began its review last November in order to make a determination of whether the project had been 'substantially started' within the 10-year deadline.
It says the office looked at construction and other activities by the proponent up to the deadline of Nov. 25, 2024, and found the condition was met.
The review included a field assessment of the project, documentation from the pipeline proponent and 'information from First Nations, Gitanyow hereditary chiefs, Gitxsan Wilps and members of the public,' the statement says.
The Greens' statement says construction activities moved ahead last summer on a portion of the pipeline's right-of-way in order to avoid expiry of the original permit.
The environmental group Stand.earth also issued a statement calling the decision to uphold the decade-old certificate as a 'slap in the face' of B.C.'s climate plan.
The decision follows the release of B.C.'s climate accountability report, which showed the province is already set to miss its climate targets, the group says.
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