The announcement by the National Energy Board that a completely new panel will be installed to conduct a review of the Energy East pipeline is good news, according to local environmental group Northwatch. The NEB announced last Friday the decisions of the panel that stepped down in September will be declared void, and a new panel will start the process from scratch.
Brennain Lloyd, spokesperson for Northwatch, says the new panel is going to review the list of issues, including an environmental assessment that needs to be considered. Lloyd says this process is going to take some time, possibly five or six months, because there are a lot of unanswered questions right now. She says that includes whether or not the NEB is even the proper body to conduct this review.
Lloyd says when they get right down to it, this project is absolutely full of risk for Northern Ontario. The proposed route for the pipeline runs through a handful of watersheds, including Lake Nipissing and Lake Talon. TransCanada has said they aren’t open to changing the route. Lloyd finished by saying even if TransCanada were willing to change the route, that doesn’t reduce the risk it just changes were the risk would be.
