Kinder Morgan Canada has asked the National Energy Board to expedite hearings into the proposed expansion of the TransMountain pipeline to make up for a one-month delay the company says was no fault of its own.

“We’re hoping that the regulatory process and timeline will remain as is,” said Lisa Clement, spokeswoman for Kinder Morgan.

The NEB postponed TransMountain’s oral summary on Aug. 21 along with hearings on the application that were set for August-September.

Steven Kelly, who had previously provided evidence on behalf of TransMountain, was appointed to the NEB in July by Prime Minister Stephen Harper a few days before the federal election was called. Kelly prepared an economic study within the TransMountain application, which raised the potential for conflict in the regulatory approval process for the $5.4-billion proposal.

The NEB asked that the information submitted by Kelly be removed from the record and that TransMountain to prepare new information in its place.

Tara O’Donovan, spokeswoman for the NEB in Calgary, said that such postponements seldom if ever occur with project reviews.

“No, not very often at all, if ever,” she said. “It was a unique circumstance.”

It was also a circumstance that occurred after serious questions were raised about the credibility of the NEB by intervenors who quit the process in protest. Marc Eliesen, former B.C. Hydro CEO, withdrew a year ago, calling the proceedings “a farce and this board truly an industry-captured regulator.” He was followed in May by economist Robyn Allan, former ICBC president and CEO, who called it a rigged game. Then, last month 35 more intervenors — two environmental groups and 33 private citizens — also quit in protest.

A spokesman for the Wilderness Committee, one of the groups that withdrew, called it a sad day, but said they felt they could not abide by a flawed process. One of the primary concerns of environmental groups is that the NEB will not consider as part of its review the impact on climate change from the pipeline expansion.

On its own account, the NEB insisted that its processes are fair and guided by legislation. They said they are bound by rules of natural justice and any decision is subject to review by the federal Court of Appeal.

Ian Anderson, president of Kinder Morgan Canada, said they support the NEB’s decision to postpone.

“We understand the August 21 decision by the NEB regarding the evidence of Mr. Kelly and support the principle that public confidence in the impartiality of the regulatory process is crucial,” Anderson wrote.

O’Donovan said the NEB’s extraordinary step was taken in order to ensure that a potential conflict would not occur.

“He had supplied evidence for the proponent. Our panel felt, in the interest of openness and transparency, that we were going to take steps to prevent a conflict,” she said.

It wasn’t the first delay in the regulatory approval process. Last July, the NEB extended the time frame by six months so that Kinder Morgan could prepare additional evidence on rerouting at Burnaby Mountain.

Kinder Morgan followed up with a request that the regulatory body make up for the added delay. Anderson said TransMountain would merely be refiling evidence applying to a narrow issue.

“Trans Mountain respectfully requests that the panel expedite the remaining procedural steps required to conclude its review of the project application,” the company’s legal counsel requested.

Specifically, the company is asking the panel to abridge procedural steps allowing intervenors to respond to the revised evidence.

“They asked TransMountain to submit information about how we were going to replace what was stricken from the record,” Clement said. “We have committed to presenting new information by Sept. 28. By that time we hope to get a new hearing order. We’re hoping that will happen within a week or two.”

Meanwhile, the largest single construction project ever considered in Western Canada is on hold.

“We’re kind of in a holding pattern until we get all the documents in on this,” O’Donovan said.

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