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It sure is taking awhile.
What is it now? Down to 2? Petronas & Shell?
Canada hasn't sought Petronas guarantee on gas plant: Jim Carr
http://vancouversun.com/business/energy/canada-hasnt-sought-petronas-gua...
Fort Nelson First Nation wins legal challenge stopping Nexen water license for fracking in British Columbia
Fort Nelson First Nation has won a major legal challenge against the BC government and Nexen Inc., an upstream oil and gas company. The first long-term water license granted in the Horn River Basin for shale gas fracking has been cancelled, effective immediately, by the Environmental Appeal Board.
The license, issued to Nexen in 2012, authorized the company to pump millions of cubic meters of water from Tsea Lake, a small lake in FNFN territory, each year until 2017.
'Granting this license was a major mistake by the Province,' said FNFN Chief Liz Logan. 'Our members have always used the Tsea Lake area in our territory to hunt, trap, and live on the land. The company pumped water out of the lake, even during drought conditions. There were major impacts on the lake, fish, beavers, and surrounding environment. Water is a huge concern for us, and for all British Columbians. By approving this license, the Province demonstrated it is not protecting the public interest in water.'
After three weeks of hearings involving expert reports, scientific literature, and other evidence, the EAB has rejected the license on two grounds:
The EAB said that BC government officials showed a lack of good faith in their dealings with FNFN on the license, and that the consultation process was 'seriously flawed.' The EAB found that the Province breached its constitutional duty to consider the potential adverse effects on FNFN....
Three-thousand litres of water and leachate spilled at Woodfibre LNG site
About 3,000 litres of water and leachate were reportedly spilled at the Woodfibre LNG site southwest of Squamish on Thursday, Sept. 8.
In a news release, the company said the spill happened during routine maintenance on the site's industrial landfill, which contains wood waste from a former pulp mill. According to Woodfibre, a pipe connected to the landfill was being flushed with water when it broke, spilling the wash water and leachate.
Leachate is any liquid that drains from a landfill containing dissolved or suspended material considered harmful to the environment.
A sample from the spill has been collected by a third party for further analysis. The spill was also reported to the BC Ministry of Environment and Emergency Management BC for investigation.
The company said the spill was "primarily contained" in a containment sump and "quickly cleaned-up" using a commercial vacuum truck.
"Fortunately, the majority of what was spilled was water," wrote Woodfibre's senior corporate communications manager Jennifer Siddon in the release, "but the spill does underscore the challenges of managing a 100-year-old industrial site."
Surprise surprise:
Liberals approve controversial natural gas project on B.C. coast
..yes no surprise. even when the libs were concidering the issue they were actively promoting it.
..here's a story of the tail trying to wag the dog.
Fort St. John mayor critical of Vancouver natural gas phase-out
Fort St. John Mayor Lori Ackerman says the City of Vancouver needs sober second thought when it comes to a proposed phase-out of natural gas.
Vancouver city council recently passed a plan to stop using natural gas to power homes, businesses and institutional buildings by 2050—part of its Renewable City Strategy aimed at making the city the greenest in the world.
Under the proposed policy, the city would phase out natural gas from residential properties by 2050. According to a city presentation, natural gas currently accounts for around half of residential energy use in the city—38 per cent for space heating and 18 per cent for water heating.
Vancouver hopes to reduce its share of emissions from residential structures from 22.6 million gigajoules (GJ) to 13.9 million GJ by 2050. Major reductions are planned in the coming decade.
The city has since said it is not "banning" natural gas, instead encouraging its phase-out through development policies.
Ackerman, mayor of the largest city in B.C.’s natural gas-producing region, said the implications of moving away from natural gas by 2050 “go beyond what may have been considered.”
“I totally understand and respect the desire for the community to leave a lighter footprint,” Ackerman said.
But the phaseout could disallow everything from patio heaters to barbecues, she said, and place “huge costs” on hospitals, school districts and businesses....
Mi'kmaq protesters block entrance at proposed natural gas storage site
Mi'kmaq protesters are blocking access to a construction site near proposed natural gas storage caverns in Nova Scotia, saying the project threatens a tidal river that passes through their traditional lands.
About 20 people were gathered near the Alton project in Fort Ellis on Monday, close to a small island where the tidal Shubenacadie River meets a channel in which salt water is to be discharged.
Mi'kmaq elder Isabelle Knockwood held eagle feathers and members of the group spread juniper branches over the road near the locked steel gate, as four private security officers calmly looked on.
An RCMP negotiator in plain clothes came to the site, but there was no visible police presence as the group erected a canopy, deck chairs and a table with a red blanket on it directly in front of the gate around 8 a.m. local time.
The natural gas storage project would pump water from the winding Shubenacadie river to the underground salt cavern site about 12 kilometres away, where it will be used to help empty the caverns.
The briny water that results would be pumped back into the river system....
enbridge pipeline has been approved
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/lng-pipeline-approval-carr-1.3782380
eta. o i noticed unionist posted this.
yup it's no surprise.
and transmountain won't be either.
What’s next for Pacific NorthWest LNG project? 4 questions answered
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet colleagues signed off on one of the largest energy infrastructure projects in this country's history this week, but now attention turns to whether shovels will ever actually hit the ground to build the Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal.
The government demanded 190 legally binding conditions be met for the project to go ahead, including greenhouse gas emission limits and the creation of local First Nations monitoring committees to ensure those targets are actually achieved.
It might all be too much to bear for Petronas, the project's Malaysian proponent. The company is facing a global glut in natural gas that has driven down prices and is cutting costs across its operations.
Other LNG projects in B.C. have been postponed indefinitely amidst gloomy global conditions for the fossil fuel. Petronas has said construction will not start right away, even with a green light from cabinet.
quote:
Where do First Nations stand?
First Nations in B.C. are divided on LNG, and much more so than with other projects, such as Enbridge's Northern Gateway crude oil pipeline, which faces a more united opposition.
Pacific NorthWest has signed impact agreements with four First Nations near the terminal, which will result in cash payments to those whose territory is significantly impacted by the project.
Training, employment, financing for cultural support and access to environmental monitoring are aspects of these agreements that First Nations can avail themselves of in exchange for supporting the project.
It also seems the federal government may have done enough to satisfy its constitutional "duty to consult" with First Nations, although it is difficult to tell in advance how courts will rule on these issues, Hoberg said.
That has been an issue in the Northern Gateway project — the Federal Court of Appeals overturned the previous Harper government's approval of that pipeline because of inadequate consultation.
"The government strengthened its position [on Pacific NorthWest] by directly involving First Nations in the monitoring processing," Hoberg added.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde said Wednesday that Indigenous people have to be involved in all natural resource development projects from the beginning, a move he said will "stave off" court battles and blockades.
"There's a lot of chiefs that are supporting, and finding the balance between the economy and the environment," he said. "But it's not a done deal, by any means. There are 190-plus qualifications or expectations before you even start building."
Not all Indigenous people are on board. A group of six First Nations from the area issued a statement Tuesday saying the project "does not meet the test" for respecting Indigenous rights and would be challenged in court.
"Providing a green light for this project at this time will only lead to protracted litigation, which benefits no one," said the Skeena Corridor First Nations, whose traditional lands include Lelu Island, the site of the proposed terminal....
..again the now familiar tactic of govs and corps negotiating with government created band councils who don't have authority, according to the delgamuukw v bc scc ruling, over greater indigenous territory..and then calling it consultation.
Government greenlights Pacific NorthWest LNG, but will the project be stopped?
Conditional approval sets the stage for a long legal fight over whether or not some First Nations groups were properly consulted and who can truly speak for the land.
The federal government’s approval of an $11-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in northwestern B.C. could mean one of the largest infrastructure investments in Canadian history.
If the Pacific NorthWest LNG project moves ahead, it would mean a total capital investment of $36 billion and thousands of jobs. Many First Nations along the pipeline route have given their support in exchange for a share of those jobs, training and financial benefits. But some Indigenous groups, who say they were not properly consulted, are threatening legal action. This could bring the project to a halt—before it even starts.
In the hours leading up to the government’s announcement on Sept. 27, a group of First Nations calling themselves the Skeena Corridor Nations issued a release saying the project “does not meet the test” for respecting Indigenous rights and would be challenged in court.
They include the Gitanyow, Gitxsan, Wet’suwet’en, Lake Babine and Takla Lake nations, as well as the Allied Tribes of the Lax Kw’alaams, whose traditional territory includes Lelu Island, where the project will be located, near Prince Rupert.
quote:
But Wesley says proper consultation needs to be done through the allied tribes, which represent the traditional hereditary governance system of the Tsimshian people.
“Elected band councils that have been negotiating with Petronas, the feds and the Clark administration only have jurisdiction on Indian Act reserves. Outside of that, it’s the tribe’s territory to govern,” he said.
..excellent points raised in this video.
Canada Approves Economically Inviable Pipeline Without Indigenous Consultation
Robyn Allan is an economist and former president and CEO of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. She was an expert intervenor at the National Energy Board Trans Mountain Expansion Hearing.
Louisette Lanteigne is a pro bono advocate who has successfully stopped projects and secured concessions to protect water supplies and endangered species using public processes including Part II orders, the Environmental Bill of Rights, the Ontario Municipal Board and the National Energy Board. Her work is housed at the Wilfrid Laurier Archives, largest repository of Environmental Law data in Canada.
..i don't buy that the federal libs are trying to tank the project and i don't believe that petronas is committed.
Tories accuse Trudeau government of creating energy sector "chaos" with LNG project approval
The federal Conservatives came out swinging against the Trudeau government on Friday for creating uncertainty and "chaos" in the energy sector after it approved a controversial liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in British Columbia earlier this week.
Manitoba MP and Opposition critic for natural resources Candice Bergen accused the Liberals of leaving industry investors in the lurch with a complicated mix of climate targets and energy policies, and questioned whether the 190 technical, environmental, and financial conditions imposed on the newly-approved Pacific Northwest LNG project were intentionally designed so they could not be met.
quote:
LNG market "in the toilet"
“I think all the major companies are, at the moment, cutting back their spending on mega-projects like this," Lee told National Observer. “My analysis is that the market for LNG is kind of in the toilet right now."
When PNW LNG was proposed more than four years ago, he explained, the LNG prices in Asia were much higher than they were in North America, creating incentive for Canada to target its natural resources there. But other countries had eyes on that market too, he said, and Australia, Russia, Qatar, the U.S. and others all managed to tap into it first. Russia in particular, has plans to build natural gas pipelines directly to China, despite sluggish economic growth curbing China's appetite for the product.
The result of the frenzy is an oversupply in the market, said Lee, that has cut overseas LNG prices roughly in half. Even if Canada already had an LNG operation up and running, he added, it would now be losing money on every single tanker load delivered.
“At prevailing prices, it costs about $10 to land a unit of LNG in Asia, but the market price is $4 to $5," he said. “The whole thing (PNW LNG) is a pretty big enterprise, so if you’re a consortium or corporate board, you have to justify laying down big money, and you’d have to be pretty sure that you’re going to be able to turn a profit on that over the course of the 30 or 40 years that you have operations.”
Lee said it's "not impossible" that Petronas could take a leap on the $36-billion project, but also predicted a flat LNG market for the next few years until new markets can soak up the surplus in supply. That analysis is sound, according to University of Ottawa economics professor Jean-Thomas Bernard, who agreed that it could take many years for the world to see the same kind of price differential between LNG in Canada and LNG overseas that created the development frenzy in the first place.
"At this stage, I don’t think (Petronas) is going to go forward," he said in a phone interview. "There will be no surge in price in Asia. This somehow removes the incentive to build facilities like that."
Did Trudeau Race to Approve the LNG Project that Petronas Wants to Sell?
The Trudeau government’s rushed approval of the Petronas-led Pacific Northwest LNG project Tuesday — during sunset at a gated Coast Guard station near the Vancouver airport — struck some opposition MPs, and the Vancouver press corp, as oddly rushed.
Now comes word, in a bombshell Reuters news report Friday morning, that Petronas may be looking to sell the Pacific Northwest LNG project, according to “three people familiar with the matter.” The B.C. government tried to throw water on the speculation Friday afternoon, saying it sought assurances from Petronas and that the proponent doesn't have plans to sell the LNG project.
However, the revelations have led some to speculate the Trudeau government knew about Petronas’ plans to sell and raced out west in a hurried attempt to save the project from collapse. Others have questioned if the provincial and federal governments knowingly approved a project destined for failure, and if so, why?
“It’s incredibly cynical if Trudeau’s government had advance knowledge this wasn’t going ahead,” Nathan Cullen, NDP MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley, told DeSmog Canada.
Hasty LNG Approval Signaled Trouble
The timing of the announcement was peculiar since Trudeau’s ministers were in a cabinet meeting earlier that morning in Ottawa. One of them, Fisheries Minister Romeo LeBlanc, was scheduled to meet in Ottawa with five B.C. hereditary chiefs opposed to the LNG project.
But that meeting was abruptly cancelled, and ministers Catherine McKenna, Jim Carr and LeBlanc jetted across the country to the airport-area press briefing, where they announced their approval of the controversial LNG project.
Cullen said the timing of the Trudeau government’s announcement was highly suspicious.
“I’ve been trying to understand why they announced the way they did,” he said. “It was disorganized, it was panicked and they had already flown out hereditary chiefs to Ottawa. This was a huge announcement, a big deal for Trudeau. Why the panic?”
“I think because Petronas was about to say, ‘we’re thinking of selling.’ They wanted to milk one last good news story out of it before reality hit and people realized Christy Clark’s [LNG] fantasy was nothing more than an attempt to get reelected.”...
quote:
For Project Opponents, Approval Still Represents Betrayal
Phillip is among many of the project’s opponents that consider the federal government’s approval of the project — even if a political charade — a deep betrayal.
“Let me begin by saying that to see the deception inherent in the approval of the Pacific Northwest LNG project proposal flies in the face of any notion of genuine reconciliation between the government of Canada or the province of B.C. and First Nations.”
“Clearly there has been a great deal of backroom dealing going on.”
Cullen, who spent Friday in Haida Gwaii for the royal visit, said many people in Northern B.C. are furious.
“Trudeau wasn’t invited here, the Premier wasn’t invited here for a reason. People are feeling very betrayed right now,” he said, adding Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, were canoed by members of the Haida nation wearing “no LNG” t-shirts.
“Haida elders expressed their real sadness and anger,” he said.
David Moscrop, a political scientist and PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia, said that kind of betrayal comes with high political costs.
“You don’t get to shake the betrayal because the approval didn’t work out — the betrayal sticks to you,” he told DeSmog Canada.
quote:
‘Cui Bono?’
Moscrop said ultimately, it may have been both the provincial and federal governments who got played.
“I like to ask the old question: ‘cui bono?’” he said, referring to the ancient question, meaning simply, who benefits?
“People think industry and government are friendly, but only to the extent that they can get something out of one another.”
“If industry thinks it can gain significant advantage by sticking it to the government, they will.”
Throughout the project review process Petronas, a company with a poor human rights record, leveraged poor market conditions as a way to gain an ever-sweetening deal for the project from the provincial government. Petronas successfully negotiated for enormous income tax breaks and weakening of carbon tax rules that could cost B.C. taxpayers millions of dollars.
More trouble in BC's LNG paradise?
Petronas weighs sale to exit $27-billion B.C. LNG project: sources
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/petronas-weighs-sale-t...
Politics and LNG doubt
http://www.news1130.com/2016/10/01/2068521/
Haida Delegation heads to Lelu Island
On August 22nd, a delegation of Haida elders, youth, and children traveled to Lelu Island to support the Tsimshian occupation there. The Lelu Island encampment is preventing contractors for Pacific Northwest LNG from completing preliminary work at the mouth of the Skeena. Tsimshian territory has never been ceded to Canada or BC, and this encampment serves also to assert Tsimshian title to the area. Support has been offered from surrounding nations, including the Haida. The Gathering Allies Society covered the travel costs for this gathering.
First Nations Groups Launching Massive Lawsuit After Trudeau’s LNG Decision
A group of First Nations plans to launch a slew of legal challenges against the federal government over its approval of the Petronas liquefied natural gas (LNG) project near Prince Rupert, BC.
Calling Justin Trudeau "an outright liar," Donnie Wesley, the highest ranking hereditary chief of Gitwilgyoots tribe, which has jurisdiction over Lelu Island where the LNG terminal would be built, said the project's approval on Tuesdaywas "a slap in the face."
Wesley told VICE News the federal decision "totally ignored" peer-reviewed, independent science submitted to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency that showed the project would seriously harm the salmon in the Skeena River, the second-largest salmon bearing river in BC, and a significant body of water for First Nations along the river.
"We don't have a tentative date, but it will be within the 30-day [appeal] period," Wesley said of his tribe's legal action. "We're going to be meeting next week to plan our strategies [and] where we're going to go with this."
Wesley's tribe, along with other First Nation groups and west coast non-profit SkeenaWild, have met with lawyers and are fundraising to apply for judicial review of the decision.
A GoFundMe campaign launched yesterday in support of their legal challenge has raised $3,000 in 19 hours—but Greg Knox, executive director of SkeenaWild, says his group has already raised about $50,000 toward its legal fund, with more fundraising events planned.
quote:
"The Skeena Corridor Nations, a powerful group of hereditary leaders from Gitanyow, Lax Kw'alaams, Wet'suwet'en, Gitxsan, Takla, Lake Babine and Haida, are exploring all political and legal options for protecting the Skeena for the long-term."
"We've been preparing for the last year," Knox said. "Our lawyers are currently preparing to file for judicial reviews."....
Exchange in the House between Mulcair and Trudeau: https://www.facebook.com/nathan.cullen1/videos/1044209872344805/
Fed NDP is not only incorrect here vis-a-vis FNs but also on the wrong side of BC public opinion.
Firstly, 4 of the 5 Tsimshian First Nations directly affected by the PNW LNG project near Prince Rupert have already signed term sheets for benefit agreements with PNW LNG (Petronas LNG consortium). The 5th, the Lax Kw’alaams, are now moving to come on board as well.
Another 16 FNs in NW BC, along the nat gas pipeline route to PNW LNG, have already signed benefit-sharing agreements.
http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/first-nations-lng-alliance-supp...
NRG Reseach opinion poll of BCers on LNG:
Support: 58%
Oppose: 28%
Don't Know/Care: 14%
Abacus Data opinion poll on BCers on PNW LNG (Petronas):
Support: 63%
Oppose: 20%
Don't Know/Don't Care: 17%
When you are elected with a majority government........
What the LNG pipeline approval tells us about Trudeau’s Liberals: Hébert
http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/6886391-what-the-lng-pipeline-appro...
From the article:
In other words, Liberal Tory same old story.
..i made mention of this descision in another thread. i'll post that piece here.
Fort Nelson First Nation wins legal challenge stopping Nexen water license for fracking in British Columbia
quote:
The EAB said that BC government officials showed a lack of good faith in their dealings with FNFN on the license, and that the consultation process was 'seriously flawed.' The EAB found that the Province breached its constitutional duty to consider the potential adverse effects on FNFN.
The EAB also rejected the Province's conclusion that the license would have no significant environmental impacts, finding that the license was fundamentally flawed in concept and operation. It found that the company's water withdrawal scheme was not supported by scientific theory or adequate data as it was based on incorrect, inadequate, and mistaken factual information and modelling results.
'We want to work with the Province and industry on sustainable development in our territory, but we are being ignored,' said Chief Logan. 'We have in the past, and are willing to do so moving forward, as long as our treaty rights are respected and the public interest in environmentally sustainable development is upheld.'
By cancelling the license, the EAB has set a precedent for future provincially supported fracking and LNG exports. Licenses will not be able to pass, unless the following standards are sufficiently met:
'This decision sends a clear message to the BC government and to the fracking industry that the LNG dream will not happen at the expense of our lakes, rivers, and treaty rights,' said Chief Logan.
The Dubious Environmental Science Behind a $36B Energy Project in British Columbia
quote:
Despite Canadian environmental regulators' decision in June to stop the clock on their assessment of the project until the company provides more information, Pacific Northwest's president has emphasized his confidence that the the terminal would do little, if any, harm. "We understand the issue is salmon and salmon habitat," Michael Culbert told The Globe and Mail in October. "We can demonstrate from a scientific perspective that indeed the salmon habitat is safe."
But a report, obtained by VICE News and since released publicly, commissioned by federal regulators from government scientists casts doubt on Pacific Northwest's claim and finds some of the research on which it is based to be riddled with "numerous and significant deficiencies and errors in the modeling procedures, input data, and assumptions." The report suggests that these errors likely resulted in the company significantly underestimating the environmental impact of the proposed gas terminal, and appears to support long-standing concerns about changes to the Canadian environmental assessment process — in particular the fact that it places the responsibility of gathering data about projects' environmental impact in the hands of the energy companies that stand to profit from seeing them approved.