First Nations file for judicial review of pipeline approval – The Globe and Mail
Dec. 18 2014
Two First Nations are seeking a judicial review of a provincial regulator’s decision to approve a TransCanada Corp. pipeline project, alleging that they weren’t adequately consulted.
The Nadleh Whut’en and Nak’azdli First Nations say the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) rushed its study of the $4.7-billion Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline that would go from northeastern British Columbia to Kitimat.
“Simply put, the EAO carried out an environmental assessment that was deficient from the outset and ignored the Nations’ objections in that regard,” according to the legal documents filed Thursday in B.C. Supreme Court. “Impacts in relation to aboriginal title, rights and interests were not properly assessed. No meaningful consultation occurred.”
TransCanada’s 675-kilometre pipeline project is designed to feed a liquefied natural gas terminal proposed for Kitimat. The LNG Canada joint venture is led by Royal Dutch Shell PLC and has three Asian partners.
