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Court challenge filed against government’s Trans Mountain approval

Dec 20, 2016 | 2:12 PM

CALGARY — Conservation groups have filed a new court challenge towards the Federal government’s approval of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline.

The request for a judicial review was filed with the Federal Court of Appeal in Calgary late on Monday, and is at least the eighth legal test of the controversial project.

The project aims to triple the capacity of a 1,150-kilometre pipeline from near Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C. The Liberal government approved the $6.8 billion project late in November.

Ecojustice lawyers, on behalf of the Living Oceans Society and Raincoast Conservation, say Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet broke the law when it relied on a National Energy Board assessment of Kinder Morgan’s controversial pipeline expansion.

The group goes on to argue the government did not take into account the impact the pipeline would have on the endangered killer whales in the region. The expanded pipeline will increase tanker traffic in B.C. Waters to approximately 34 ships a month, up from five currently.

The Liberal government says it is taking seriously its responsibilities under the Species At Risk Act, which mandates a federal recovery plan for about 80 killer whales that spend much of their lives in the Pacific waters off Vancouver.

Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc told The Canadian Press in a recent interview that the Liberal government will be releasing an updated recovery plan for the whales next month, following thousands of public submissions on a summer draft plan. Transport Canada shipping regulations are in the works and will be introduced later in the spring, he said.

The federal government’s $1.5-billion oceans protection program announced in November earmarked $340 million over five years for whale protections, including improved monitoring so ships can be immediately alerted and directed away from whale pods.