Wilderness Committee says province may back off Enbridge, move closer to Kinder Morgan

VICTORIA (NEWS1130) - After months of waiting, the BC government is expected to unveil what it wants to see in order to support plans to build new pipelines.

Ben West with the Wilderness Committee says it'll probably be more about public relations and politics and not about taking a stance. However, he thinks the province will back off a bit when it comes to the $5.5 billion Enbridge pipeline from Alberta to Kitimat.

"Definitely, [they] have been distancing themselves from the Enbridge project to a certain extent in the last week or so," says West. "They're probably going to be laying out what conditions would need to be in place for them to be  supportive."

With previous reports pointing to possible environmental damage, West thinks Environment Minister Terry Lake may talk about their environmental worries.

"Specific concerns around the Douglas Channel and the Great Bear Rainforest, they may talk about river crossings," explains West.

But if it it were a choice of one of the two plans, he wouldn't be surprised if the government may be in favour of Kinder Morgan's project.

"I'm increasingly thinking that this may be a signal that they're trying to savour the Kinder Morgan pipeline for the Enbridge Pipeline, maybe that's the subtext to this," adds West.

Despite push from the New Democrats and other critics, the province has yet taken a stance on the controversial plans.

Photo: A map shows the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline route. Courtesy of Enbridge.