(Sean Kilpatrick / TT NYHETSBYRÅN)

Kanada närmar sig beslut om omstridda oljeledningar

Redan nästa vecka väntas den kanadensiska regeringen sätta ner foten om Enbridges omstridda oljeledningsprojekt Northern Gateway, skriver The Globe and Mail. Beslutet blir en prövning för premiärminister Justin Trudeau som förra året gick till val på balansera miljöhänsyn mot affärsintressen. Northern Gateway-projektet som skulle innebära byggandet av två naturgasledningar har ifrågasatts av miljöaktivister som oroar sig för läckor.

bakgrund
 
Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines
Wikipedia (en)
The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines is a project to build a twin pipeline from Bruderheim, Alberta to Kitimat, British Columbia. The eastbound pipeline would import natural gas condensate and the westbound pipeline would export diluted bitumen from the Athabasca oil sands to the marine terminal in Kitimat for transportation to the Asian markets by oil tankers. The project would also include terminal facilities with "integrated marine infrastructure at tidewater to accommodate loading and unloading of oil and condensate tankers, and marine transportation of oil and condensate." The $CDN 7.9 billion project was proposed in mid-2000s and has been postponed several times. The project would be developed by Enbridge, Inc., a Canadian crude oil and liquids pipeline and storage company. When completed, the pipeline and terminal will provide 104 permanent operating positions created within the company and 113 positions with the associated marine services. First Nations groups, many municipalities, including the Union of BC Municipalities, environmentalists and oil sands opponents, among others, denounce the project because of the environmental, economic, social and cultural risks posed by the pipeline. Proponents argue the pipeline would provide aboriginal groups with equity ownership, training, employment, Community Trust and stewardship programs; along with the large scale infrastructure to keep Canada prosperous. The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that consultation with First Nations was woefully inadequate, and has overturned the approval. The proposal has been heavily criticized by native groups. Groups like the Yinka Dene Alliance have been organized to campaign against the project. In December 2010, 66 First Nations bands in British Columbia, including many along the proposed pipeline route, signed the Save The Fraser Declaration in opposition to the project, and 40 more have signed up in support since that time. The proposal is also opposed by numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs), citing previous spills and concerns over oil sands expansion and the associated risks in transportation. By 2015, 26 of 45 have signed up in support of the Northern Gateway. In June 2014 the Northern Gateway pipeline project was approved by the federal government, subject to 209 conditions. The CBC questioned the silence concerning the Northern Gateway since then and suggested that Enbridge might have quietly shelved the project. Upon taking office in 2015, new Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau imposed a ban on oil tanker traffic on the North Coast of British Columbia, effectively killing the project.
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