Hot on the heels of the federal election, the National Energy Board has just announced a new schedule for final oral arguments for the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion.
Intervenors hoping to make their final case will have to refile a notice of intent with the NEB by Nov. 5 for hearings set in Burnaby and Calgary.
Oral arguments from intervenors will now take place sometime between Jan. 18 and 29 at the Delta Burnaby Hotel and Conference Centre. The NEB hasn’t given an exact date yet, as the board is waiting for more information from intervenors.
The NEB was only able to book the hotel for two weeks, so there will be more oral hearings for intervenors in Calgary between Feb. 1 and 12. The rule that intervenors can only have two people attend still stands, and general members of the public will not be allowed in.
The NEB is also encouraging intervenors to file a written “argument-in-chief,” which covers all the main points of one’s argument; the deadline for those is Jan. 12.
Kinder Morgan, which can only have two representatives present, will present its final oral argument in Calgary on Dec. 17.
The final arguments are intervenors’ last chance to state their case about the $5.4-billion expansion. Kinder Morgan hopes to nearly triple capacity of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which runs oil from Alberta to Burnaby. The expansion includes plans to build a bigger marine terminal and tank farm in Burnaby.
The NEB put the original pipeline hearing on hold, following a conflict of interest involving evidence submitted for Kinder Morgan by one of its newly appointed board members. Now that the NEB has removed that evidence (the main economic argument), and Kinder Morgan has submitted replacement evidence, the hearing is back on track.
Anyone wanting to follow the final arguments can watch online from the NEB’s website.
The NEB’s new deadline to recommend whether the expansion should go ahead is now May 20. The newly elected Liberals made an election promise to overhaul the NEB process and take the final decision out of cabinet’s hands. NEB spokesperson Craig Loewen told the NOW the board’s mandate is legislated, and no changes to the law have been made yet.
