News Release - January 15, 2014

Onerous NEB application process restricts public participation

VANCOUVER/VICTORIA – The Wilderness Committee and its allies are preparing for an intensive public outreach campaign after the National Energy Board (NEB) opened up applications today for the public to participate in hearings on the proposed 1,150-kilometre Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline.

To apply, members of the public are forced to sign up with a government user ID or log in through their financial institution, and must then complete a lengthy online application. If users cannot fill the form out online, they are told to call for assistance and must wait for a hard copy to be delivered by mail.

Applications from individuals and groups wishing to participate will be only accepted from January 15th to February 12th, 2014 following the company’s formal project application, which was filed with the NEB in December 2013.

“The tar sands have come home to BC,” said Eoin Madden, Climate Campaigner with the Wilderness Committee. “Local communities do not want to see this project proceed, and it is our  job to support them in  having their voices heard loud and clear”.

The Wilderness Committee has been working for years to oppose the Kinder Morgan pipeline proposal and dramatically increased tanker traffic in the Salish Sea, due to the unacceptable risk of marine or land-based oil spills, as well as the climate impacts associated with increasing tar sands exports.

Changes to Canadian environmental assessment legislation have severely limited the public’s right to participate in environmental reviews for energy projects like the Trans Mountain pipeline. Members of the public are now subjected to a very prohibitive application process, and all participants are required to prove that they are either “directly affected” by the proposed project or possess “relevant expertise”. In order to participate as an intervenor or to submit a letter of comment, all applicants must be approved by the NEB.

“We’ve spent a lot of time and energy alerting the public to the threat that this project poses to the lands and waters of BC, the Salish Sea region, and our climate. Now is our chance to mobilize our networks and do what we can to engage in the official process – no matter how much that process has been degraded,” said Vancouver Island Campaigner Torrance Coste.

The Wilderness Committee intends to apply as an intervenor in the pipeline’s environmental assessment. In an effort to support individuals and groups who wish to intervene in the process, the  Wilderness Committee will also host workshops at its Vancouver and Victoria offices, contact members in communities surrounding the pipeline and tanker route and offer one-on-one assistance to complete the application process. Details on these activities and more will be available online at WildernessCommittee.org and SalishSeaAction.org

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For more information, contact:

Eoin Madden | Climate Campaigner, Wilderness Committee
eoin@wildernesscommittee.org, (604) 353-9603

Torrance Coste | Vancouver Island Campaigner, Wilderness Committee
torrance@wildernesscommittee.org, (250) 516-9900

To register/apply to participate in the NEB assessment process, visit:

http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/clf-nsi/rthnb/pplctnsbfrthnb/trnsmntnxpnsn/trnsmntnxpnsn-eng.html#s4