Nisga’a-owned LNG pipeline wins key approval as BC Greens, other First Nations push back

The B.C. government says a decade-old environmental assessment certificate remains valid for the construction of a natural gas pipeline in northern B.C.

The British Columbia government says a decade-old environmental assessment certificate remains valid for the construction of a natural gas pipeline in northern B.C., in a decision opposed by the province’s Green Party and environmental groups.

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.

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.

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“It’s outrageous that the government is allowing construction to proceed with no approved terminus, using an outdated plan, and threatening one of the province’s most sensitive salmon habitats, all to serve the interests of foreign-owned fossil fuel companies,” the Greens’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.