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A threefold project of capacity of an oil pipeline from Alberta to Vancouver Harbor on the Canadian coast is "in the public interest of Canada," the regulator said on Friday. the government to approve it.
The liberal government of Justin Trudeau last year nationalized Trans Mountain Pipeline to expand it, but it was blocked last August.
The government then asked the sector regulator, the National Energy Council (NEB), to conduct further consultations with the affected populations, including groups of Americans, to better reflect the impact of the project on the region. environment.
In a report, BEA notes that the project is likely to "cause significant adverse environmental impact" in a population of threatened killer whales in the Vancouver region and a "likely significant" increase in greenhouse gas emissions. of the greenhouse.
The regulator recognizes that the "worst case scenario", either a pipeline caused by a pipeline or a ship, "the environmental impact will be significant," but finds that "such an event" is "unlikely".
The council argues that these potential effects have been significantly "weighted" in its assessment, but "nevertheless recommends that the government proceed", taking into account the significant benefits of the project and the proposed measures to minimize the impact of the project. ".
"The general recommendation is that the Trans Mountain Expansion Project is in the public interest of Canada and needs to be approved," said the regulator, adding that it has 156 conditions.
The Office has also proposed 16 "recommendations" to the government to mitigate the impact of the project on the environment, but it is not new conditions, said ONE, Marc-André Plouffe.
This decision has caused authoritarian and environmental groups hostile to the project, which plans to triple the capacity of the 1200-km pipeline to 890,000 barrels of oil per day.
"It is a complete insult to the court hearing," said Bob Chamberlain, vice president of the Native American Leaders Association in British Columbia.
"These recommendations are a distraction to pretend that answers are made to the concerns expressed, and this is not the case," Eugene Kung, a lawyer for the West Coast Environmental Law, told a press conference.
A final decision by the government to expand the pipeline, which bought about 4.4 billion Canadian dollars (3 billion euros) last year from the American group Kinder Morgan, is expected in principle for 90 days.
But in eight months of the Canadian parliamentary elections, it is likely to be postponed, as the plan is strongly controversial in British Colombia, a key constituency for the liberals Justin Trudeau.
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