Mackenzie pipeline stakeholders ''disappointed'' at environmental review delay (Mackenzie-Delay)
CALGARY _ A panel examining the Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline project said Friday it will take another year to complete its long-awaited review in the latest setback for the multibillion-dollar plan that originally hoped to have gas flowing in 2009.
The government-appointed Joint Review Panel said it will need until December 2009 to finish its work as it tackles an "enormous" amount of information about the possible environmental, social and economic impacts of the more than 1,200-kilometre pipeline.
"We understand that there is tremendous interest in the panel´s findings," chairman Robert Hornal stated Friday.
But the panel is obligated to make a "rigorous, unbiased" evaluation of the project, said Brian Chambers, utive director of the Northern Gas Project Secretariat.
"The issues are complex, they´re numerous. They have significant implications for Northerners and all Canadians," he said.
The panel has held 115 days of formal hearings and collected more than 5,000 written submissions. It also held 40 days of informal sessions in 27 northern communities as well as 75 days of technical hearings.
"When I first read the press release I thought it was a typographical error. I thought it was good news that it was December 2008," said Bob Reid, president of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, which as a one-third ownership stake in the Mackenzie Gas Project.
"December 2009 _ another year _ is extremely disappointing news for the Aboriginal Pipeline Group."
The Mackenzie gas project is led by Imperial Oil Ltd. (TSX:IMO), joined by ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) and Shell Canada Ltd. as well as the APG, which represents three aboriginal communities in the region.
Pipeline operator TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) also has a stake through an investment in the APG. There has been talk of that company taking a bigger role as the partners grapple with swelling costs.
The regulatory process has seen a number of setbacks since a seven-member joint review panel was appointed in August 2004.
In March 2007, Imperial announced the costs of the pipeline had more than doubled to $16.2 billion, though analysts have said the price tag is now probably closer to $20-billion. The original startup date of 2009 was pushed beyond 2014.
The panel was supposed to have then reported its findings in August 2007, but that date was pushed back until October 2008. In May of this year, the panel said the report would not be published until early 2009.
"Just two days ago (Environment Minister) Jim Prentice said he expected the JRP report to be issued between March and May. That´s just two days ago," Reid said.
Imperial Oil spokesman Pius Rolheiser said the company was "extremely disappointed" with the news.
"It´s clearly a setback," he said. "We had expected a joint review panel report much sooner than the indication we received."
He said it´s too early to tell how the timeline, which would see startup no sooner than 2014, could be affected.
Aboriginal communities in the Mackenzie Delta will now have to wait to enjoy the economic benefits the pipeline would have provided, Reid said.
"Once the gas starts flowing south, APG will have significant annual dividends flowing north to our aboriginal shareholders and these dividends are planned to be used to make improvements in housing, in education, in health care, and in improving the opportunities for the aboriginal youth in the North," he said.
"Basically now with the delay in the regulatory approval, the delay in the project, those benefits will be delayed."
Calgary consultant Doug Matthews said the delay does not bode well for Mackenzie going forward, since another massive natural gas pipeline planned for Alaska is moving ahead significantly faster.
Backers of both pipelines have repeatedly said the projects are not in direct competition with one another and that both can go ahead.
But Matthews, who used to run the Northwest Territories´ natural resources division, disagrees with that assertion.
"If the Alaska project goes first then the Mackenzie project is toast. And another delay like this can only be an advantage to the Alaskan project," he said.
