Panel approves Mackenzie pipeline project

CALGARY – The Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline project has received the stamp of approval from a seven-member panel weighing in on the environmental and social impact of the 1,200-kilometre project headed by Imperial Oil Ltd.

"The panel is confident that the project as filed, if built and operated with full implementation of the panel’s recommendations, would deliver valuable and lasting overall benefits and avoid significant adverse environmental impacts," the Joint Review Panel said in a statement.

It added that the project "would provide the foundation for a durable and sustainable future in the Mackenzie Valley and the Beaufort Delta regions, adding that this future would be a better one than a future without the project."

The Mackenzie pipeline project would ship up to 1.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the edge of the Beaufort Sea down to Alberta and southern markets. It is seen by many in the Northwest Territories as a means of achieving economic independence, but by others as an environmental and cultural threat.

The panel was created in 2001 to streamline regulatory processes around the pipeline. It launched public hearings in the Northwest Territories on Feb. 14, 2006, with the expectation of submitting a report by mid-2007, but the deadline was extended at least twice as the panel analyzed the findings.

Recently, TransCanada Corp. chief executive Hal Kvisle estimated regulatory delays have added $3 billion to the project’s bottom line.

The Mackenzie Valley pipeline was announced in 2000 by a consortium of four oil and gas companies led by Imperial and including aboriginal partners. They have lobbied for federal support of the project since Day 1, boosting efforts after filing the pipeline application with regulators in 2004.

In January, federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced Ottawa would support the pipeline through infrastructure funding and other undisclosed means. However, discussions with the consortium have been at a stalemate for most of this year.