Quebec Seeks Injunction on TransCanada's Energy East Project
March 01 2016 - 1:00PM
Dow Jones News
The Canadian province of Quebec said Tuesday that it would seek
an injunction against TransCanada Corp.'s Energy East pipeline to
ensure the proposed project meets provincial environmental
guidelines.
Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel said the action comes
after TransCanada ignored requests that it submit the environmental
impact study for the Quebec portion of the project for review by
provincial regulators.
"Today's motion…signifies that whoever seeks to build a project
in Quebec must comply with all Quebec laws and regulations. I
clearly informed TransCanada Pipelines that it needed to table a
project notice for Energy East. In the face of its neglect, the
government has taken action," Mr. Heurtel said in a release.
A TransCanada spokesman wasn't immediately available for
comment.
TransCanada has faced political pushback in Quebec for its
proposed 15.7 billion Canadian dollar ($11.7 billion) project, a
1.1-billion-barrel-a-day pipeline that will carry crude oil from
landlocked Alberta and Saskatchewan to refineries on Canada's east
coast. In January, Montreal's mayor and other municipal leaders
voiced opposition to Energy East, arguing that the environmental
risks of the pipeline passing through the province outweighed any
economic benefits.
Calgary, Alberta-based TransCanada's application for the project
is under review by Canada's main energy regulator, the National
Energy Board. In December, the company amended its application with
a number of route changes in a bid to satisfy environmental and
community concerns.
Energy East has been championed as a nation-building project
that would benefit refineries in eastern Canada while helping
address market-access challenges facing Canadian producers. But
opponents argue the project would increase greenhouse gas emissions
by allowing oil-sands producers to ramp up production.
In January, the country's federal government implemented tougher
environmental review standards for pipelines, which require
projects to submit to carbon-emissions testing. The interim
measures were part of the government's plan for a broad overhaul of
Canada's environmental-assessment process.
TransCanada aims to put its Energy East project into service in
2020.
Chester Dawson contributed to this article.
Write to Judy McKinnon at judy.mckinnon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 01, 2016 12:45 ET (17:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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