Kinder Morgan Canada pipe project hearings end, fate in balance

Kelt Exploration

13/10/2017 21:31

CALGARY, Alberta, Oct 13 (Reuters) - A Canadian court 
wrapped up a final hearing on Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd's 
 KML.TO  Trans Mountain crude oil pipeline expansion on Friday, 
a two-week proceeding that marks a major hurdle for the 
embattled project. 
    The proposed expansion of the existing Trans Mountain 
pipeline from Canada's oil-rich Alberta province to the west 
coast has faced mounting opposition from environmental and 
aboriginal groups, who have filed for judicial review of 
project's federal approval.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1MA1S4 
    A final decision could take months but if the verdict goes  
against the C$7.4 billion ($5.9 billion) expansion, it would 
send it back for assessment, which could cause lengthy delays 
and even derail the project. 
    Over two weeks in Canada's Federal Court in Vancouver, 
lawyers for the judicial review's proponents argued that Canada 
failed in its duty to consult First Nations and other groups on 
the expansion and neglected to adequately review certain 
environmental issues.   
    On the other side of the suit are Kinder Morgan, the federal 
government and energy regulator, the National Energy Board.  
    "All of the applicants, indigenous and otherwise, have 
raised strong arguments and the court has asked a lot of 
questions showing they are engaged with all of these issues," 
Ecojustice lawyer Dina Tuytel, who is involved in the hearings 
on behalf on Trans Mountain's opponents, told Reuters. 
    Kinder Morgan spokeswoman Ali Hounsell said the project 
approvals followed many years of engagement and consultation 
with communities, aboriginal groups and individuals. 
    The government has called the export of natural resources a 
"fundamental" responsibility, and it and Kinder Morgan have said 
the they held extensive consultations with aboriginal groups.  
    The Trans Mountain expansion would nearly triple the 
capacity of an existing pipeline to 890,000 barrels per day and 
significantly increase crude tanker traffic off the west coast. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1GF1RM  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1KW1I9 
    Energy projects in North America have come under increasing 
opposition from activists concerned about their carbon footprint 
and possibility of oil spills. 
    While it is rare for Canada's judiciary to review pipeline 
approvals, the last such case, heard in 2015, helped kill 
Enbridge Inc's  ENB.TO  Northern Gateway pipeline.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1BW1M9 
    There is no firm deadline for rendering judgments for such 
cases, although the court announced its decision against 
Northern Gateway in June 2016, about eight months after hearings 
ended.  
    Regardless of the outcome for Trans Mountain, any decision 
is likely be appealed in Canada's Supreme Court.  
 ($1 = 1.2514 Canadian dollars) 
 
 (Reporting by Ethan Lou and Nia Williams; Editing by Marguerita 
Choy) 
 ((Ethan.Lou@thomsonreuters.com; +1-403-531-1634; Reuters 
Messaging: ethan.lou.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: CANADA KINDER MORGAN CN/LAWSUIT