By Charles Lefebvre

NEB endorses Trans Mountain Expansion

Feb 22, 2019 | 10:37 AM

CALGARY, AB — The National Energy Board has recommended the Trans Mountain Expansion Project should be approved following a reconsideration report.

The ruling was delivered Friday morning, following a re-evaluation of the project’s impact on the coast of British Columbia

According to a release from the National Energy Board, the report notes that shipping related to the project is likely to cause “significant adverse environmental effects” on the Southern resident killer whale and on Indigenous cultural use associated with the animal.

The report also says greenhouse gas emissions from marine vessels related to the expansion would likely be significant, and while a credible worst-case spill from the project or a related vessel is not likely, it would be significant.

The NEB says the consequences of the project are justified based on its benefits, including more jobs across Canada and increasing oil access to new markets.

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“While these effects weighed heavily in the NEB’s consideration of Project-related marine shipping, the NEB recommends that the Government of Canada find that they can be justified in the circumstances, in light of the considerable benefits of the Project and measures to minimize the effects,” the statement reads.

The Federal Court of Appeal halted the approval of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion in August, with judges ruling there wasn’t enough consultation with First Nations groups in the area of the expansion, and it didn’t properly consider marine life.

The federal government has 90 days now to decide if they will go ahead with the project.

If the project is approved, the NEB will impose 156 conditions on it, and has made 16 new recommendations to the federal government.

Premier Rachel Notley is expected to respond to the decision at 1 p.m. on Friday.

-With Files from The Canadian Press