— from CBC News, British Columbia —
The B.C. government has given the green light to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, after reaching an “unprecedented” agreement with Kinder Morgan for up to $1 billion in investment over 20 years.
“We always said that the five conditions were a path to yes,” said Premier Christy Clark in a Wednesday news conference, referring to B.C.’s stated terms for pipeline approval.
“That’s where we are today.”
Environment Minister Mary Polak and Natural Gas Development Minister Rich Coleman issued the environmental assessment approval for the interprovincial twinning of the pipeline between Edmonton and Burnaby, B.C., after what Clark described as years of “long and intense” negotiations to get “as much for B.C. as we possibly can.”
In a joint statement, Polak and Coleman said, “We have always been clear economic development will not come at the expense of the environment.
“We believe environmental protection and economic development can occur together, and the conditions attached to the EA certificate reflect that.”
Clark repeatedly said that B.C.’s role was to extract value and protection for the province through negotiations, based around the five conditions the government issued in 2012 for approving any pipelines.
“This wasn’t a project that was ours to approve. It was the federal government’s…. Our job was to fight for the best interest of British Columbians,” said Clark.
“Had the five conditions not been there, [it] might mean that this project might not have been approved without additional coastal protections.”
SOURCE: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/trans-mountain-environmental-certificate-1.3931489 CLICK TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE.
