Coastal GasLink pipeline is blockaded in new trouble for project

Protesters erected blockades to prevent construction crews from reaching TC Energy Corp.’s natural gas pipeline project in the latest setback for the British Columbian project.

Protesters erected blockades to prevent construction crews from reaching TC Energy Corp.’s natural gas pipeline project in the latest setback for the British Columbian project. 

Three blockades on a forest road have isolated accommodations for 500 workers building the Coastal GasLink conduit intended to haul gas to a planned coastal export terminal, according to a TC Energy statement. The protest began Sunday when members of the indigenous Wet’suwet’en community demanded that work crews vacate the group’s territory, according to a separate press release. 

“Work on Coastal GasLink continues along the 670 km project corridor,” TC Energy said in an emailed statement. “Construction activity around the protest areas and blockades is paused for safety reasons.”

Costs for the project have escalated over the past couple of years amid frequent protests as well as pandemic-driven work restrictions. The budget inflation, in turn, has fueled friction between TC Energy and backers of the LNG Canada export project over which companies should bear the increased costs.

The latest action by members of the Gidimt’en Clan of the Wet’suwet’en comes almost two years after a similar blockade sparked nationwide protests that put rail shipments of grain, propane, lumber and consumer goods in jeopardy and slowed the economy. 

There is no room for compromise with TC Energy on this project, Gidimt’en spokeswoman Sleydo’ said in a BNN Bloomberg TV interview.