A New Brunswick environmentalist is calling for TransCanada Corp.’s proposed west-east pipeline to undergo a provincial environmental impact assessment, reports CBC News.
The estimated $12-billion project is under federal jurisdiction, so the province could opt to leave the review to the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.
But Gordon Dalzell, of the Citizens’ Coalition for Clean Air, contends the federal process is too daunting for the average citizen.
“For example, a person like myself or anybody else will have to fill out a 10-page application just to make a comment on that project or to ask to be an intervener,” he said. “It’s much more difficult and more challenging.”
If the provincial government takes that route, a lot of people won’t be heard, he said.
Department of Environment officials say it’s too soon to speculate whether the provincial government will conduct its own assessment. They have not yet met with the federal agencies to even define the parameters of an environmental assessment.
Dalzell says it’s “really worrisome” the provincial government hasn’t made a decision yet.
